Melody Barnes: Evergreen
by JanaeSpecter14
Summary: Excelling as a SHIELD agent, Melody's starting to feel like she really belongs. Things couldn't be more perfect until Clint and Natasha begin doing shady things at the request of her mother and Nick Fury, and then Nick and Emily's sudden deaths. Melody will dive more into her family's dark past, learning a secret that could rip her apart at the seams. Sixth installment. (CA:TWS)
1. Marriage and Babies

" _ **Lay by me, trapped in evergreen. Catching stars to keep. Feel my quiver cease. Since we found out that we're invincible, we've been living in a dream world. Since we decided to be infinite, there's no ending and there's no fear. We've been weak. We've been down. Kicked ourselves to the ground. Only lost to be found. You're my hero now."**_

 _ **Evergreen by Broods**_

* * *

Clint aimlessly walked around the house, wondering what on earth made him come here. The only good thing was the open bar. As long as the dad-to-be was using his money on all the beers Clint was downing to make it through the night, he wouldn't lose one ounce of sleep. He'd probably gain more.

As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of the reason why he was here. His gentle, blonde badass. He smiled to himself, hearing her laugh trickle through the air. It was that laugh she used when something was only slightly funny to her. They weren't even close to her gasping-for-air laugh which was a hard one to get to.

"This is so lame." He turned to where the sound of the voice had come from. It was a girl with dark hair and tanned skin. She wore a leather jacket with a plaid shirt coming out and dark jeans as her hair fell down in loose waves.

"Tell me about it." He spoke as he pulled his beer to his lips before taking a swig out of it.

"Baby showers have never been my thing." She spoke as she pulled her phone out to see a message from Simmons. She was hoping she could get some more time hiding. "They're for those preppy girls, and my best friend is one of them." She looked over to Clint, noticing his smile at her comment. He looked so familiar to her, she just couldn't place it.

"Yeah." He spoke as he looked back to Melody. "My girlfriend is one of those." His head turned at the sight of Natasha being roped into the baby shower excitement. "And apparently so is _my_ best friend."

Skye looked to the girls who were excitedly playing games, realizing exactly who he was talking about. Melody Barnes and Natasha Romanoff. "Holy shit." She exclaimed, realization hitting her like a brick. Clint smiled as he turned to look at her. He got this a lot. "You're the archer. Hawkeye. You're Clint Barton."

"Agent Barton," They both turned, startled by Coulson standing behind them. "I see you've met Skye."

Clint looked over, smiling at her pleading face. "She's really nice."

"Hey, honey." Clint smiled at her hands on his shoulders and her mouth near his ear, immediately his evening had all been worth it. He put his arm around her waist, the two smiling at each other a loving smile, making Skye blush. She had only heard stories about the way those two looked at each other. It was different to see it. When Melody finally looked away, she met eye contact with Skye. "You must be Skye." She spoke as they shook hands. "Coulson has told me so much about you."

Skye continued to smile as she shook her hand. Melody was just so secure with herself in every form of the way. Was it too soon to say that she aspired to be just like her? "And he's told me so much about you." Skye had never been this star struck, but Melody was used to it by now. Besides Howard Stark, she was the only celebrity who was a SHIELD agent. "Hey," Skye spoke with wide eyes, a thought coming to her. "Is it true that you bashed an alien's skull in with Captain America's shield?"

Melody smiled at that frequently asked question since the videos from the attack in New York leaked. "If you thought that was cool, you should ask this guy what he can do with an arrow."

Clint smirked at her as Melody gave him a devious face by switching the conversation back to him. SHIELD had taught her too good. "She's pretty handy with a knife." Clint shrugged, ready to play her game.

Skye and Coulson looked to each other with a smile at the way the two could act like they were the only ones in the room. "Hey!" Natasha called, breaking them out of their spell. "Are you coming?"

Melody turned back to Clint, smiling happily while tugging on his arm. "I need my better half for this one."

Clint sighed as he looked over at Skye, remembering their conversation earlier. He looked back at Melody, putting on a smile just for her. "Anything for you, babe." Clint looked over at Skye again, giving her a small smile at the look she was giving him for having to partake in these baby shower games. "Skye, would you like to join us?"

Skye's face went blank as Melody's eyes lit up. "That's perfect!"

Skye gave Clint a dirty look as she was dragged to the group of girls surrounding the pregnant SHIELD accountant. As she looked around, she could hardly believe the SHIELD superstars gathered around her. Emily Carter, SHIELD supervisor, Natasha Romanoff, the notorious Black Widow, and even Captain America himself. She was keeping it cool, but on the inside, she was fangirling.

"All right," Melissa spoke with her hand resting on her pregnant belly. "This is a guessing game." She spoke as she passed around the small slips of paper. Clint sighed. He was getting drunk and he already wasn't good at guessing. "You're going to write down if you want kids or not and put it in this bucket anonymously. Then we read them out loud and decide who wrote what."

Cling finished his beer and quickly picked up another one before playing the game. Melody looked up at Clint, wondering how many beers he had tonight as she wrote down her answer and dropped it in the bucket.

After Melissa got the bucket back, she began to mix the slips of paper around and looked up to everyone in anticipation as she unfolded it. "'I already have one and she's twenty-three.'"

Everyone laughed as Melody looked over at her mom who gave her a warm smile. "Thanks, mom." She spoke with a smiling eye roll.

"Alright, next one," Melissa spoke as she reached into the bucket. "'Of course someday.'"

Everyone looked around the circle, wondering who wrote it when Clint decided to speak. "Well, it can't be Melody's because she doesn't want kids." Melody looked to Clint, her face immediately flushing with embarrassment, all eyes on her. "Hell," Clint chuckled out. "She doesn't even want to get married." Melody's mouth dropped, never having been this embarrassed by her boyfriend. "So," he glanced around the circle, stopping at Skye's face. "I'm gonna go with Skye."

Skye shook her head, only looking at Melody. Everyone was looking at Melody, causing her to look down, wanting to disappear into the furniture. "I don't want kids."

Melody got up, taking the piece of paper from Melissa and inspecting it. "It's my handwriting." She admitted as she sat down.

Clint looked to her, eyes slightly wide. Everyone looked back at Melissa, not being able to forget what they just witnessed as they turned back. "Alright," Melissa spoke cautiously, never expecting this much drama to come out of her baby shower. "Next one."

* * *

Melody stomped up the stairs to get to their apartment with Clint following behind her. She had been silent for the entire car ride and even now, she still hadn't said a word since that baby shower game. "Mel," Clint spoke. She still didn't turn around. "Are you mad at me?"

That made her stop walking. She turned around to look at him like he was an idiot. "Okay, that was a dumb question." She nodded at how obvious that was before turning around and continuing up the stairs. "Am I lucky enough to just get the silent treatment?"

She turned around, her glare even deeper than before. Man, Clint was happy they were just in public so she couldn't kill him right there. "I'll take that as a no."

She turned around again, her blonde hair slapping him in the face. Clint sighed as he followed after her heavy stomping feet. "Are you gonna yell at me once we get inside?"

He saw her head go up and down, Clint sighing from fear, knowing she possessed the skills and weaponry to kill him in the apartment while making it look like an accident. "Perfect."

When they got to the door, Melody unlocked it, Clint feeling his nervousness increasing. When they walked inside, Clint delayed closing it as long as possible, wishing he would be able to run away without her tracking him down and killing him. Clint finally closed the door, Melody turning around and throwing her purse down. "Have you completely lost your mind?!"

Clint threw his hands up, deciding the best thing to do was to beg for forgiveness right now. "Okay, I know I was an asshole."

"You know what," Melody practically screamed as Lucky ran up to the two. "I'm not even _that_ mad about that part, I'm madder that you told my mother at a _baby shower_ that I didn't want to get married or have kids."

Clint shrugged like it was kind of obvious before throwing his hands up. "You don't!"

"That's not something you tell my _mother_!"

She turned away from him and threw her coat to the ground while Clint stood there for a moment, blinking, letting the anger take over him. "Why am I getting in trouble for telling the truth?!" He followed her into their room as she began to take off her jewelry and put it up neatly, Lucky still trailing behind them. "Isn't that the exact same thing I got in trouble for when we first started dating?!"

Melody whipped around, the rage taking over her eyes. "That was different!" Her voice had gotten high pitched and if he continued to make her angry, it was going to go into super sonic.

"How?" Clint almost laughed out before hitting their bed. "Please explain to me how!"

She could feel her face turning bright red the madder she got. " _You_ were lying about who you were, but the truth kind of _needs_ to be kept from my mother."

She pushed past him and moved into the kitchen, Lucky deciding to follow her out. "Why _can't_ I tell your mother that you don't want to get married or have kids?! You're the one who refused my proposal." Clint asked, following her out and leaning against their bar as she moved to the fridge.

"Oh, you're going to throw that in my face again?" She opened up their fridge, taking in a quick survey of all the snacks they had.

"I think I have a right to." Clint spoke while throwing his hands in the air.

Melody pulled out string cheese, making sure to take a big chunk out of it before screaming her response. "You said that I didn't want marriage and children at all, and my mother going to think I'm a lesbian!"

Clint stifled a laugh but Melody just glared at him before taking another chunk out of the cheese. She pushed past him again and moved to Lucky who had finally taken comfort on his bed, finding it exhausting moving from one end of the apartment to the other like them. "Melody," Clint sighed as she began to scratch his ear, acting like she wasn't hearing what he was saying. "You need to start telling me what's public and what's private knowledge."

She turned to him as he sat down next to her, giving her a sympathetic stare. "But you know I want babies." She spoke sadly, her eyes trained on Lucky, not wanting to look at Clint's face for this part. "You know I want to get married and start a family, and you make it seem like I don't want any of that."

Clint just looked at her for a moment, not really thinking about her in his drunken moment. "Hey," Clint spoke as he grabbed her face. "I am sorry for not thinking about that." She nodded and gave him a small smile. He then leaned forward to kiss her forehead lightly while stroking her hair, Melody still scratching Lucky's ear. Clint began to get an idea as Lucky began kicking once Melody got to his spot. Clint slowly stopped stroking her hair and stared at her. "Melody," She turned to look at him, having to do a double take at how serious he looked. "Why don't we get married and have kids?"

She scoffed at him and looked back to Lucky. "Are you kidding?"

"No." She looked back to him, realizing he was serious, her eyes taking up about half of her face in that moment. "Let's get married and have kids right now."

"Clint," She laughed out while looking around. "We're both in STRIKE Team, I can't do that job pregnant and even after I have the baby and get back on the team, we're going to have to go away for weeks at a time. We're going to have to end up getting a nanny."

"Then we'll get a nanny." Clint spoke with a shrug.

Melody began to shake her head with a small smile growing. He just wasn't going to let it go. "Okay, what about the wedding? Because if we have a wedding, it's going to be huge and extravagant because you know Tony's going to pay for it. He's not going to take no for an answer."

"Then we let him pay for the wedding."

Melody threw her hands in the air, finding herself smiling at how easy Clint was making it sound. "When will we even have it?" Clint pushed his forehead to hers, Melody getting a wide smile on her face. "I'm a very busy woman."

"On a day all of SHIELD can stop operating for one damn second and let us get married."

Melody pulled away from him, shaking her head. "It's not going to be that easy." She laughed out. "There's a lot of things that go behind both a wedding and babies and right now we just don't have the time for it."

"I think you're just making excuses." Clint whispered into her ear while moving to kiss her neck.

"You think you're so slick." Melody laughed out as he continued to kiss her neck. "You think you're going to get me pregnant, but you forget I'm on birth control."

"Yeah," Clint whispered, pushing his hand in-between her thighs, stroking the panties she wore under her dress. "Don't take your pill tomorrow morning."

Melody rolled her eyes, turning to look at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, looking him right in the eyes. "Just promise me you're not going to rush me into any decisions. I'm on board for Team Marriage and Babies, but only at my pace."

Clint gave her a soft smile, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear before kissing her cheek. "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Melody let out soft little groans as the alarm next to her screeched. Clint rolled – almost on top of her – shutting off the alarm with his hand, already wide awake. Melody groaned as she rolled on her back with Clint now holding himself up above her. "Mel," he whispered out as she tried to pull the blanket on top of her. "You've got to wake up."

"I don't feel like it." She was still on a high from their fight, agreement to get married and their insanely hot sex afterwards.

"You're the one who said you wanted to learn how to shoot a bow. It takes discipline."

Melody peeked out from the covers, a sly smile on her face. "I thought I was disciplined last night."

Clint let out a husky laugh that was making her heart melt like hot butter. "You could use some more."

Melody let out a bubbly laugh as Clint moved to tickle her. Her laughter began to fill the room, but it was quickly filled with coughs. Clint began to stop once he heard her coughs being to grow vigorous. "Melody," Clint began while putting his hand on her back. "Breathe."

Melody let out ragged breaths as she coughed into her hand. That's when the coughs stopped. She was turned away so Clint wasn't able to see the slimy, bright red liquid she had been coughing up for the past few weeks.

She turned to look at Clint, her hand closed completely so he wouldn't be able to see her blood. "Are you okay?" He asked intensely, not ever seeing her cough like that.

She nodded like nothing happened, very proud of her acting skills at the moment. "Those cigarettes I used to smoke caught up to me." She spoke with a slight shrug and smile. Clint smiled back as he pet her head, but he wasn't totally convinced that's what happened. She leaned forward, giving him a light kiss on the cheek, causing him to just lean into it, his smile only getting wider. "I'm gonna brush my teeth."

He nodded, holding onto her hand as she walked off, not letting go until it was necessary. When the bathroom door closed, he kept his eyes on the door, his eyebrows only stitching together in confusion.

Melody threw her elbows down on the skin from the fear she was able to keep hidden. She threw the knobs to the sink on, taking deep breaths as she tried to wash the blood off her hands. The blood wasn't even the worst part about all of this. No, the worst part was that she could remember her father doing the same thing when he was sick. When he was dying. They had the exact same symptoms. That was the one thing that was scaring her to death.

When Melody was done, she wiped off any fear from her face and smiled, knowing that the love of her life was just out that door. As the door opened, she moved to him, a smile spreading across his face. "I love that shirt." He whispered as she sat on his lap while he pushed his head to hers.

After their battle in New York, all the Avengers became instantly famous. More so than before. There was actual merchandise that people could buy. This was particularly Melody's favorite one. It read, "Hawkeye's Girl" across the chest with an arrow running across the wording.

"I bet I love it more." She challenged.

"Bet I could shoot it off you." Clint spoke as he pulled her closer.

Melody wrapped her arms around her neck, giving him a devious smile. "Get your arrows and we'll see about that." That smile made Clint want to rip that shirt off of her right now.

He pushed Melody to the side before darting out of the room. Melody laughed before pushing herself off of the bed and following Clint to their armory. They knew that what they found their sexual pleasure in was dangerous. They even refused to try it for a couple of months, but now, they knew it would lead to the best sex they ever had. Their arrows and knives were their weapons and their best tools when it came to their extreme pleasure.

Right when they got to the living room, they both jumped, seeing Fury sitting on their couch with Lucky at his feet with a happy smile at the scratching he was receiving. Clint threw his hands in the air, most upset about Lucky. "Worst dog ever."

"Would it kill you to call?" Melody yelled, trying to position herself so Fury wouldn't be able to see her bare legs or the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. "Or knock?"

"I've got a mission for the STRIKE Team." He spoke as he stood up from his spot as Lucky ran to go join Melody and Clint.

"And it couldn't wait…" Clint shrugged while looking at the clock behind Fury. "Two hours?"

"This is a last minute mission." He handed them both separate files, but what they didn't know was that they had to separate missions. Those two separate missions, they would begin to tear their relationship apart. "It's simple. Get hostages and get the hell out."

Melody nodded, feeling a headache beginning to spread across her brain. This was another symptom of her illness. She had gotten used to the pain, but some had gotten to her. Some were worse than the others.

"Seems easy enough." Clint spoke while closing his file and looking up at his boss, knowing he and Melody had completely different missions.

"Good." Fury spoke as he turned around. "Clint, you'll get Natasha. Melody, you'll get Steve and meet with the rest of STRIKE on the aircraft in two hours."

He walked out of the door without another word, causing Melody to roll her eyes at him. "He can be so annoying." Clint continued to stand there, wondering if Melody was ever going to realize their difference in their missions as she got on her knees right in front of Lucky, petting him while pulling his face to hers. "You are so useless."

* * *

Melody took a deep breath while looking at the target on the wall. She pulled the string back on the bow, taking her aim, then letting go, hitting the ring right next to the bullseye. She smiled at herself and turned to Clint who was behind her. He didn't look too impressed though. "I could do better."

She rolled her eyes with a sigh while turning to look at where her arrow landed. "That was a great shot!"

Clint looked at where the arrow landed, and she was right, it was a great shot. "But it wasn't an excellent shot."

She grunted as Clint moved next to her while she played with her wrist brace. "I hate training with you."

Clint then got directly behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm just trying to keep you alive." He put a kiss on her temple as she began to mock him, but in all honesty, the kiss made her smile. Just a little bit.

"I wanted to teach you a new draw." Clint spoke as he brought up his own bow. "The Mongolian Draw." He grabbed an arrow, pulling it back with the string while holding the bow sideways. Before shooting it off quickly and making a perfect shot.

Melody rolled her eyes as he turned to her with a smirk. "You're such a show off." She commented as she took the bow from him before leaning down to get a new arrow.

She pulled the string back the way she was used to, confusing Clint. "What are you doing?" He was talking like an annoyed parent, making Melody just want to continue with what she was doing.

"Shooting."

"Do it the way I just showed you."

"I don't know how to do it that way." She complained to him.

Clint moved forward, trying to grab the bow from her. "Just…" He tried to turn it over, but Melody was fighting him with it. "Melody!" He complained just as the arrow shot off.

They both looked panicked at where it was going, but when it went toward Brock, he simply ducked before it landed in his head. Clint turned to Melody with an irritated stare as she gave him an innocent smile. "Careful with that thing." Brock commented. "Don't take my eye out."

Melody rolled her eyes before putting the bow down and placing her hands on her hips. "What's up, Rumlow?"

"I was thinking we could move up the schedule." He spoke with a shrug, only looking at Melody for that part.

Melody turned to Clint next, breathing heavily from their struggling to give him a shrug, not having any problem with that, Clint nodding in agreement. "I'll get the Captain then." Melody spoke, picking up her duffle bag and hurrying out of the training room.

"You got a completely different mission than her, don't you?" Brock asked. Clint couldn't stop looking at the direction she had walked off in as he nodded to Brock's question. Brock simply patted him on the back, looking off in the same direction Clint was. "Don't let her find that out."

 _ **I'm back! Okay, I know Clint kind of came off as an asshole in this chapter, but I wanted to keep him true to comic book Clint who is low key an asshole, but because he's hurt. That's one of the main reasons I love Clint. And I know the Avengers technically don't know that Coulson is alive, but this is my story and I do as I please. Let me know what you guys think and if you're excited for The Winter Soldier story to play out as much as I am! Thanks for sticking with me so long, you guys!**_


	2. The Lemurian Star

Steve ran up to the man who was now lying under a tree, deep breaths possessing him as Steve continued to laugh. He didn't want to count all the times he passed him as this stranger just did one lap around the National Mall. He jogged over to him, putting his hands on his hips to look down at him. "You need a medic?"

He laughed while shaking his head, continuing to breath heavily. "I need a new set of lungs."

"Dude," He spoke, looking up at him, Steve thankfully blocking the sun for him. "You just ran thirteen miles in less than thirty minutes."

Steve shrugged, looking at the path he just ran. "Guess I got a late start."

"Really?" He laughed back at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He turned away for a moment before looking back to Steve. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

Steve laughed while shaking his head, deciding to ask the one question he knew he could relate to him. If you were a military man, you knew one when you saw one. "What unit you with?"

"58th Pararescue." Steve nodded, slightly impressed. "But now I'm working down at the VA." The man brought his hand out, realizing that he hadn't introduced himself yet to Captain America. "Sam Wilson."

Steve leaned forward, suddenly realizing how rude it was of him not to introduce himself, he made up for that by helping him off the ground. "Steve Rogers."

Sam groaned before putting his hands on his knees, still unbelievably tired. "I kind of put that together." He straitened himself up, looking the super soldier up and down. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

Steve smiled a little bit, when first meeting him, a lot of people liked to beat around the bush to get to that question. He liked being directly asked this time. "It takes some getting used to." He looked back to him before waving a goodbye. "It's good to meet you, Sam."

Sam looked at him, noticing something no one else noticed. "It's your bed, right?"

Steve stopped, turning around, slightly confused. "What's that?"

"Your bed, it's too soft." He turned his head slightly, confused about how he knew that. He didn't get to talk to many veterans after waking up from the ice. "When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."

"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve added through a smile. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." He studied Sam for a moment. "How long?"

"Two tours." Steve nodded, impressed as Sam kind of laughed, wanting to make the conversation light again. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

Steve smiled a little bit. He loved the convinces of this day in age, but what he really did miss about the 40s were the people. "Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up."

Sam smiled before an idea clicked in his head. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack." Steve nodded, pulling out his small notebook to scribble it down. "Everything you missed jammed into one album."

"I'll put it on the list." He told him with a smile before his phone went off. It was a text from his great niece. _Mission Alert. Extraction imminent. Meet you at the curb :)_

Steve smiled just a little bit. Melody knew he liked texts straight to the point, but Steve also knew that she was a fan of the smiley face. "All right, Sam, duty calls." He spoke as he brought the phone up before leaning in to shake his hand. "Thanks for the run. If that's what you want to call running."

Sam began to laugh. He couldn't believe he was just insulted by Captain America. "That's how it is?"

"That's how it is."

"Okay." Sam spoke, still laughing. "Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."

"I'll keep it in mind." He spoke with a nod just as an all-black corvette pulled up.

Melody rolled down the window, looking at the two from the driver's seat. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." She looked at Steve the whole time while delivering that line. She was pretty proud of it.

Steve gave her a dry laugh as he climbed into the passenger's seat. "That's hilarious."

Sam's eyes almost bulged out. Two Avengers in one day. It was like Christmas. Melody was giving him a smile. "How you doing?"

"Hey." She spoke with a nod.

Steve looked back over at Sam with a shrug. Sam wasn't sure if it was because how nice to car was or how hot his niece was. "Can't run everywhere."

"No, you can't." Sam sang out.

Melody gave Sam one last flirty smile before rolling the windows up and taking off. Melody turned to look at Steve as she drove. "I'm funny."

"You're not." Steve protested while shaking his head.

"Oh, you know 'fossil' was a good one."

"Barely." Steve spoke, not looking to her.

Melody turned to him, slapping him on the arm, Steve ending up doing the same back at her. "I'm driving!" Melody complained, Steve rolling his eyes, knowing she always used that excuse when they got into one of those play fights. She just wouldn't be able to take him. That's why she did it. Or that's why Steve thought she did it.

"So is Clint still alive?"

Melody chuckled, Steve always knowing how to approach conversations like that with her. "He was just taken off of life support, expected to make a full recovery."

"Good," Steve scoffed while shaking his head. "Because last night, his survival was questionable."

Melody let silence pass over them, before she thought of something. Maybe Steve would know, something…anything about what was going on with her. "Did Maria or Bucky ever have health complications?"

Steve kind of stiffened at the names, he didn't think he would ever be able to stop that habit, but his eyebrows also furrowed at how random the question was. "No, they were both healthy. I on the other hand…" He trailed off as he turned to look at her, her face possessed by thought. "Why?"

Melody shook her head, knowing she had to come up with a lie quick. "Ever since my blood fought off Extremis, I've been kind of looking more into my medical history, and then there was my dad's death." She shook her head, not understanding how an anomaly in her blood would end in her getting a deathly aliment never found out by the best doctors on the planet. "The biology just doesn't make sense."

"Well, I don't know anything about biology." Steve spoke while nodding his head, taking in the information. "But Maria did. I can see if I can get my hands on some of her old journals. Maybe there might be something in there. Biology or health wise."

"That would be fantastic." Melody spoke, turning to look at him at a red light.

"When we get back from this mission, I'll go through some old boxes."

Melody felt a small smile creeping on her face as she leaned back into her seat. "You don't understand how helpful that would be."

Steve gave her a tight smile, not sure what this was all really about, but he knew something was up. "Anything for you, Melody."

* * *

Rumlow stood in front of the screen that would explain their mission to them. Even if Steve was a Captain, STRIKE Team: Delta had and always will be Brock's team, Steve was just running it. "Target is a mobile satellite launch platform. The Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them ninety-three minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Melody asked, her eyes still fixated on the screen.

"Billion and a half."

Her eyes finally moved from the screen to Brock, confused at how high the number was. "Why so steep?"

"Because it's SHIELD's."

Melody and Steve's eyes suddenly clicked together, understanding what this mission actually was, and they were both so tired of these. "So, it's not off course, it's trespassing." Melody mumbled while shaking her head.

"I'm sure they have a good reason." Clint spoke with a shrug. After he was done speaking, Melody turned over to look at him, half wanting to choke him and half wanting to leave.

"You know; I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor." Steve spoke, leaning in a little close to Natasha this time.

"Relax." She breathed out an annoyed breath before turning to him with a smile. "It's not that complicated."

Melody and Steve shared another irritated glace before Steve looked back to Rumlow. "How many pirates?"

He looked to the screen quickly before answering the Captain. "Twenty-five." He then blew up a picture. "Top mercs led by this guy. Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Steve asked while rubbing his chin from thought.

"Mostly techs. One officer. Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."

Melody's eyebrows began to furrow. She knew Sitwell, and this was not his cup of tea. "What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?"

"All right," Steve spoke, ready to give his orders to the group. "Melody and I are gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you and Clint kill the engines and wait for instructions." That's when Clint and Brock shared a bit of a look no one really picked up on. It was a look like Clint knew that his job wasn't what Steve told him, and Brock knew it. "Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move."

"STRIKE, you heard the Cap." Brock spoke while beginning to put some gear on. "Gear up."

The ship took off, Melody and Steve beginning to run through some last minute checks. "Secure channel seven."

Melody clicked a little on the laptop she was given before shutting it and standing up. "Seven secure." She then looked to her great uncle, knowing his love life was something that had not been picked up since awakening from the ice. "Did you do anything fun on Saturday?"

"Well," he began fixing up all his spy gear before looking to Melody with a sly smile. "All of the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead," Melody gave him an irritated stare as Clint just smiled. "So, no, not really."

Steve then got the alert that he was right above the drop zone, leading to him moving to the back opening of the aircraft. "You know," Natasha spoke, placing her hands on Melody's shoulders to look at Steve, she was also in on this setting Steve up thing. "If you ask out Kristen from Statistics, she'd probably say yes."

Steve chuckled before putting his helmet on. "That's why I don't ask."

Clint moved closer to where Steve was, getting a smirk on his face at what the two girls were doing, deciding he was going to have some fun with it too. "Too shy or too scared?"

"Too busy!" He called over the engine just before jumping.

"Got it." Melody spoke with a nod as she approached the hanger as well, looking to Clint and Natasha before finishing her thought. "Too scared."

Melody followed Steve's lead, free falling in the air, Melody loving that feeling. Rollins then walked up to Brock, his eyes wide, wanting to make sure he saw what he thought he saw. "Were either one of them wearing a parachute?"

Rumlow began to laugh while shaking his head. First time he saw it, it scared the hell out of him too. "No. No they were not."

Once Steve and Melody landed in the ocean, they both climbed up the chains from the anchors, getting on the ship, Melody having the responsibility of knocking whoever was guarding unconscious. They both ran, but there was more. Steve threw his shield at one as Melody fought off the other one, finally pushing him off the ship.

The two continued through the ship, taking down everything and everyone who came in their way with a simple ease. This was one of the reasons they were always paired up on missions. Their dynamic with the other was just pure magic. It was like a perfectly practiced routine taking place before your eyes.

When they got to a more populated area of the ship, their dynamic came even more handy. Steve had to drop his shield to go after one, Melody picking up the shield and slamming into another man's body, sending him back into the ship. The original man who Steve went after began attacking him with a knife, the two switching opponents. Melody kicked him at the knee sending him straight down to the ground before snatching the knife from him.

Steve then looked to Melody's original opponent. He was going for an alarm so Steve went to Melody's belt, finding the Chinese ring dagger Natasha had given her for Christmas, and chucked it at the man's hand, nailing him to the ship.

Melody then looked over at Steve, kind of offended. "Those are my favorite daggers; you better get it back."

"No problem." Steve spoke, kicking the man in the face, leaving him unconscious and ripping the dagger from his hand. He then handed it to her with a bit of a smile. "Happy?"

She took the dagger from him, placing it in its holster. "I would be happier if you didn't touch my stuff."

"Shut up, Barnes."

They continued down the ship, flipping off the side and fighting off all the other guys on the deck. They fought them all off with ease before one man put up a gun on the back of Melody's head. Steve looked to her, giving her a panicked look. That's when Rumlow dropped down from his parachute, shooting the guy instantly. Melody turned around, giving him a slight smile. "Thanks."

"Yeah." He chuckled looking in between Melody and Steve. "You both looked pretty helpless without me."

Natasha and Clint then joined the two as they walked. Natasha hurrying up to Steve. "What about the nurse that lives across from you? She seems nice."

Steve scoffed while shaking his head. "You two, secure the engine room and then find me a date."

"Come on, man." Clint spoke while getting his arrow set up so he could just fly across the way. "We're multitasking." He then grabbed Natasha by the waist, the two flying over the ship to get the engine room.

Rumlow and Rollins moved to the room where the hostages were outside of while Natasha and Clint secured the engine room, and Melody and Steve waited to take on Batroc. They all waited in intense silence, all of their hearts pounding in the same beat. "On my mark." Steve spoke through the walkie, eyes trained on the room they were being held in. "Three…two…one."

The second he said one, Rollins shot up the terrorists in the room with Rumlow breaking in and getting all the captives, Jasper Sitwell looking to the dead men lying on the floor. "I told you." He spoke as cool as if he wasn't just being held against his life. "SHIELD doesn't negotiate."

In Batroc's room, no one was responding to him, making him worried that SHIELD was coming. And in that instant, Captain America's shield shot through the window. Melody and Steve split up, Steve going into the room as Melody moved to just outside it. Batroc hit Steve down and proceeded to make it out of the room, but Melody was waiting for him.

The second he got out of the room and onto the deck of the ship, Melody punched him in the throat and kicked him in the chest, knocking him down. Steve ran up to her, but the second Batroc saw him, he tried to kick him, but Steve put the shield up, blocking both him and Melody as the sound echoed throughout the whole ship.

Every hit Batroc tried to make was blocked. Mostly by the shield, but also by Melody's expert combat skills. After some impressive back flips, Batroc was a few feet away from them, staring them down. He opened his mouth, his words pouring out in French. "I thought you were more than just a shield."

Steve glared at him, pulling his helmet off and dropping it to the ground, ready to show him what he really was. "Let's see."

Batroc was first to lunge at them, kicking Steve in the thigh as Melody rammed her elbow into his shoulder. Batroc grabbed her by the waist, trying to fling her away, but Melody stuck the landing as Steve began to kick Batroc. Melody moved to the two, punching him the face and kicking his ankle whenever he tried to come back and kick her. Steve then kicked him in the abdomen causing him to stumble back before doing a flip in the air and kicking Batroc to the ground.

He slowly began to get up, Melody running after him and ramming him into the nearest door, ending up on top of him in some computer room. He was unconscious, Melody smiling a little at her accomplishment as Steve helped her up. "Well this is awkward."

They both snapped their heads to see Natasha and Clint working away on the computers. Melody began to walk up to the two, all the anger from last night rushing right back to her. "What are you doing?"

"Backing up the hard drive." Natasha spoke nonchalantly as Steve looked over at Batroc to make sure he was down before joining them all. "It's a good habit to get into."

"Rumlow needed your help." Steve complained as Clint ignored direct eye contact with Melody. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Melody looked to the screen, scoffing once she saw what they were doing. "You're saving SHIELD intel."

She looked to Clint, but he didn't look at her, continuing to go away on the computer. "Whatever we can get our hands on." He simply responded. After he said it, though, he immediately began to regret it. She was going to kill him. For real this time.

"Our mission is to rescue hostages." Steve spoke, exasperated with their actions.

"No." Natasha sang out. "That's _your_ mission." As Clint was done with his computer work, Natasha pulled out the flash drive to face an angry Steve and Melody. "And you've done beautifully."

Natasha began to walk off, but Steve just grabbed her arm. Melody just continued to stare at Clint, but his head was down in shame, not wanting to make things worse, but somehow they already were much worse. "You just jeopardized this whole mission." Steve scolded.

"I think that's overstating things."

That's when Batroc jumped up from where he was lying to throw a grenade in their direction. Clint wrapped his arm around Melody as Steve's went around Natasha's. The pairs jumped up as Natasha shot at the window and Steve's shield blocked them from the glass, but Melody bolted right into it.

Melody groaned, feeling shards of glass in her body as she scooted her back to the wall. Melody moved to sit with Steve, specifically moving away from Clint. They all let out deep breaths, mostly from pain. "Okay." Natasha breathed out. "That one was on me."

Melody turned to look at her, beyond angry as Steve just continued to stare straight forward. "You're damn right."

Steve stood up, automatically going to help Melody up. At the sight of Melody grabbing her side that had blood coming out on her uniform, Clint stood straight up. Steve turned around, stopping him immediately. "Haven't you done enough?" He growled out before continuing to help Melody out.

Clint looked so hurt. He wanted to help Melody. He wanted her to not be mad at him, but he just seemed to be doing everything wrong lately. He backed into the wall, his head falling back as a deep sigh took over his soul. He messed up. He had really messed up.

 _ **I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the action scenes. They came out a little meh, but you guys know by now my action scenes are a little meh to begin with. Remember to review your thoughts and let me know what all you want to see in this story. I will try to work in y'all's suggestions. (God I just used y'all's, I'm sorry I'm so Southern). See ya!**_


	3. The Winter Soldier

When they got back to Washington, Steve and Melody decided to split up, going to the source of the problem. Steve to Fury and Melody to Emily. Melody charged into her mother's office not even bothering to change out of her uniform. She had been patched up, but nothing could heal her anger. "You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?"

She slammed her fists down on her mother's desk, Emily looking up to her with neutral eyes. "Natasha and Clint had a different mission, that's not lying, that's avoiding the truth."

"Oh my god." Melody scoffed. "You're actually lying about lying."

"Melody," Emily spoke calmly, getting up from her seat and going to her daughter. Melody just rolled her eyes. She didn't want to listen to these excuses. "Everyone ended up alive and the mission was completed on both ends, I don't see the problem here."

Emily was now standing in front of her daughter. Melody found herself scoffing at her mother's complete oblivion to the whole conversation. "They could have died! That's the problem!"

"But they didn't." She argued right back, an angry smile growing on Melody's face as she shook her head. "I knew that you and Steve were going to focus on getting those people out alive while Clint and Natasha worked on keeping SHIELD's secrets."

"Newsflash, mom!" Melody suddenly yelled. "SHIELD isn't secret anymore! Not after New York, so who cares if the secrets get out?!"

"I do!" Melody rolled her eyes again. "And you should because Clint's kids are in those secrets."

Melody looked back to her mother, sighing, wishing she didn't know that those kids were like her own. That she would do anything to protect them. "Those secrets get out," Emily continued as she moved to the other end of her office to look out the window. "Half of this staff is dead. Do you get that?"

Emily turned to look at her daughter again, Melody's hands now on her hips in frustration. "Fury and I didn't want you and Steve doing anything you weren't comfortable with, Natasha and Clint are comfortable with everything. That's what makes them two of my best agents."

"Mom," Melody spoke calmly, moving forward so the two were standing right in front of each other. "Steve and I can't lead a mission – "

"Steve and I?" Emily questioned. Melody's brows furrowed, not sure why she was bringing that up. "Honey," Emily spoke, moving forward to put her hands on her shoulders. "You're not in charge here."

Melody scoffed, finding herself offended. "I'm starting to think I should be."

"Oh, come on, Melody." Emily spoke with an eye roll before going back to her computer. "You've barely been in SHIELD for a year, you're _lucky_ you're even on the STRIKE team."

Melody couldn't believe what her mother was saying to her. It was like she wasn't good enough. "I think taking on multiple terrorists and succeeding in an alien battle kind of trumps seniority here!"

"Melody," Emily spoke calmly while shaking her head and looking up at her daughter from where she sat in her computer chair. "You're a wonderful agent, one of the best, but you're still new."

"So is Steve!"

"He was in the military, darling."

"And I've been taking down bad guys too!" Melody shook her head, turning around to go to the door. "This is such a double standard."

"It isn't." Her mom ensured as her hand went to the handle.

That stopped Melody, having her turn around as all of her anger bubbled to the surface. "It is! I've done just as much as Steve, I've earned my place too, but I'm still seen as some prissy little princess to everyone here! So," She gave her mom a sarcastic shrug. "It kind of is."

She moved to the door again, Emily trying one last ditch effort to get her daughter to understand. "It's called compartmentalization." Melody turned her ear try and hear her mother better. "Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."

Melody shook her head, looking straightforward again. "Yeah, everyone except you and Fury."

Melody pulled the door open angrily before beginning to walk out. "Melody." Emily called, but she just kept walking. "Melody!" Emily sighed as her daughter just continued walking down the hall. "Well that's just bloody brilliant."

* * *

Melody found herself going down to the SHIELD garage, tinkering away on her new babies. Project Insight. "This is Project Insight." She could hear from under her. She looked down, Fury's voice echoing in the whole hanger. Melody rolled her eyes, not too happy with him either. "Three next generation helicarriers synched to a network of targeting satellites."

Melody jumped down from where she was working, landing perfectly on her feet, almost right in front of Fury and Steve. Steve actually found himself smiling a little bit. She really looked like Maria there. He half expected Howard Stark to come down too, the two explaining what they were creating in a language he couldn't understand.

"Once we get them in the air, they'll never need to come down." Fury spoke as they approached Melody. "Thanks to this little number right here."

"I called Tony." Melody spoke with a shrug. "We worked on that new turbine, it should be more efficient than the last one and shouldn't break down as easy." Melody nodded to the pair, wanting to show them the new weapons she had just finished working out. "Come see what she's packing." When they reached towards the end of the ship she smiled and leaned against the ledge like a proud mom. "These new long-range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before they step outside their spider hole. We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

Fury nodded, impressed with her. "I knew I put the right woman on the right job."

Steve just looked straight down, kind of disappointed in her. "I thought the punishment usually came after the crime."

Melody's face completely fell. She thought he would be proud. "We can't afford to wait that long." Fury added, Melody giving him a fearful face.

"Who's 'we'?" Steve added quickly, not wanting to waste any time explaining how wrong this all was.

"After New York, Emily and I convinced the World Security Council…" Melody rolled her eyes at her mother's name while the conversation just tuned out. She was now starting to second guess all the work she had just done over the past couple of months. "…For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

Steve scoffed as he began to shake his head. "By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection." Melody looked to him, not knowing what to do anymore. She felt like a kid in the middle of a parent's argument. She wasn't sure what was right and what was wrong anymore.

"You know, I read those SSR files." Steve seemed to stiffen a little bit, now Melody didn't know if she should be listening to Fury. "'Greatest Generation'? You guys did some nasty stuff."

"Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free." He looked to Melody's inventions, pointing at them like they were some monsters, and she could feel her self-consciousness come up like a bad rash. "This isn't freedom. This is fear."

"I don't know, Steve." Melody spoke with a shrug, looking to him apologetically. "The definition has changed drastically from the forties."

"And because of that," Fury went on to add. "SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

Steve just continued to stare down Fury, putting Melody in an awkward situation. "Don't hold your breath."

* * *

Melody went home, finding herself dreading it. She didn't want to fight, but she knew the second she saw him, she was going to yell. She took a deep breath at the door, not knowing if she should turn around or walk in. She decided the face the music and walk in. When she did, candles littered the floor with rose petals. She looked all around, wondering where the hell Clint was.

He moved from the kitchen, pouring her a glass of wine, but Melody couldn't help this undeniable anger pulsating through her. "I cooked you lunch." Melody felt tears rushing to her eyes, but she couldn't begin to understand why she was crying. "Did everything go okay at the hospital and at SHIELD."

"Why would you do that to me?"

"Melody," Clint spoke, putting the glass down before hurrying to her, but Melody just pulled away when he grabbed the sides of her arms. "I am so, so sorry, but we all just thought it would go smoother if no one knew everything."

"'All' being you and my mother?"

Clint sighed, he had never been more scared to lose her in his life. "She had some say in it, yes."

"You're all so typical." Melody spoke while shaking her head and moving toward the door.

"Melody," Clint spoke in fear as he followed her. "Where are you going?"

Melody stopped at the door, not sure how to answer that question. "I don't know, but I can't be here right now."

She slammed the door, leaving Clint standing there, not sure what to say or what to do, but he kept thinking on how much he screwed up. He thought about how this time, he could have lost Melody for good.

* * *

Melody had a baseball cap on as she walked through the Smithsonian. Here, she felt closer to her family since there was a whole exhibit dedicated to them. Well, to Captain America. And apparently, she had just missed Captain America/Steve Rogers. He was talking to her grandmother, Peggy, at the moment. Melody used to visit her a lot when she first got to DC, but it just got hard watching her grandmother not even recognize her own granddaughter.

Melody spent a lot of extra time on the Bucky portion of the museum. Her dad used to tell her war stories about how amazing his father was. He would tell her that he never met them, but both Maria and Howard could talk on for days about him. He really did look like her dad. They might as well roll out a family graveyard while they were at it. Howard. Maria. Bucky. James. And now her. She wiped a tear off her face, finding herself scared for her own life. She felt like they were a family of ghosts or like Death was slowly taking them all out one by one.

As she looked at the grandfather she would never know, she got a text from Steve. She picked up the phone, reading the message: _I'm almost done here. Meet me at my place. I'll get the pizza; you get the doughnuts :)_

Melody smiled a little bit at the text, knowing a nice, quiet night with her great uncle was just what she needed. Especially since they had the same taste in pizza and she wouldn't have to order that nasty Hawaiian pizza Clint liked.

She quickly text back a reply before looking to Bucky's picture again. She needed just a few more minutes standing there. She need to spend some time with the grandfather she never knew. That her dad never knew. It was times like these that she wished her dad was still here and Bucky had never suffered that fate on a train car.

* * *

The sky had turned almost grey, storm clouds threatening to fall any minute, no amount of sun was left in the sky, matching Emily's mood perfectly. She was sitting in the passenger's seat of the Escalade while Fury was driving, her going over their paperwork while he just focused on driving. "Open secure line 0405."

Emily looked over to Fury, her face twisted in thought. "Isn't she halfway across the country right now?"

"We need her." He told Emily with a shrug who just rolled her eyes at him.

"This is Hill." Maria spoke through the phone immediately, Emily wanting to automatically give her their apologizes.

"I need you here in DC." Fury said without even a greeting.

She was silent for a moment, Emily looking back to their paperwork, knowing that they really could use her here. "Deep shadow conditions." Emily added.

Maria was silent for a moment, obviously thinking her plan through before speaking. "Give me four hours."

"You have three."

Emily turned to him with an exaggerated eye roll before her phone buzzed. She looked down to it, smiling at Rhodey's number. Rhodey was planning on visiting for the weekend, and Emily most definitely needed that after the day she had. She typed out her reply with a smile on her face until a police car slammed into the Escalade on Fury's side, sending them down the road hard.

They didn't even have time to recover, a police car going in reverse, slamming in front of them and another one going straight forward and ramming their back while another one went on Emily's side. "Fracture detected." The car reported on Fury's side.

Emily was in an almost daze after the cars hit and so was Fury. The anesthesia medication came out, Emily immediately grabbing it and injecting it into his arm. "DC Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area."

That became to become evident when these "officers" began to pull out weapons that would never be issued to police forces. "Get us out of here!" Emily commanded as she looked around at the men. They wasted no time firing.

"Propulsion systems offline."

Emily and Fury looked to each other, knowing there was a possibility that they weren't geting out of here. "Then reboot, damn it!"

They just kept shooting until they realized it wasn't working. The cascade of bullets stopped, giving them both a moment to recover, but it wasn't long. When the SWAT van opened up, they pulled out a ramming tool that would most definitely crash that window open.

They put the machine right up to the driver's seat window, alarming them both. "Warning. Window integrity compromised."

"You think?" Fury spoke to the car sarcastically.

Emily pulled Fury back into her seat with her, knowing the force would have just done it for them anyway. "How long to propulsion?"

"Calculating." That was the mark of the first hit, sending the whole car being pushed to the right and slamming back down on the road. "Window integrity 31%. Deploying countermeasures."

"Hold that order!" Emily called.

Fury gave her a wild look. "I don't know about you, but I want to get out of here alive."

"Trust me." She urged just before the machine hit the car again, Emily screaming this time, it taking her by shock.

"Window integrity 19%. Offensive measures advised."

"Wait!" She spoke again, more eagerly this time.

It hit one last time. "Window integrity 1%."

"Now!" A gun popped up from the middle console, Emily taking it before Fury even had a chance. She shot all the men she could down before sending a missile into that fake SWAT van.

"Okay." Fury sighed as the chaos seemed to calm down a little. "Good plan."

She gave him a bit of a smile before the car reported, "Propulsion systems now online."

"Full acceleration!" Fury yelled. "Now!" Emily continued to shoot as the car backed itself out of the trap it was in and went forward, regardless the men standing in front of it.

They were safe for the time being as they drove off, but they knew more were just going to keep coming. "Initiate vertical takeoff!" Emily commanded.

"Flight systems damaged."

Fury then interjected. "Then activate guidance cameras!"

He nodded to Emily, giving her a chance to climb over him and sit in the driver's seat. His arm was still hurt, no matter how much he wanted to drive, he wasn't going to risk it. "Give me the wheel!"

"Get me Agent Hill." Fury commanded as Emily began to weave in and out of the cars.

"Communications array damaged."

"Well, what's not damaged?" Fury asked, getting irritated with the car.

"Air conditioning is fully operational." Emily slowly turned to look at Nick, the two of them sharing an irritated glance before looking back to the road.

"Traffic ahead."

"Give me an alternate route."

"Traffic alert on Roosevelt Bridge. All vehicles stopped." Emily hit the wheel angrily. It was like this was all planned. Like someone knew they were going to be on this exact street at this exact moment. "17th Avenue clear in three blocks, directly ahead."

Emily quickly moved past cars, knowing there was still a police car chasing after them. The only problem was that the car was so damn big she had to ram into some other cars to get through in time. She had successfully blocked the police car, but the men just got out, shooting at them, no regards for civilian casualties.

A man was on their side, trying to shoot them both as they tried to drive through the abandon cars in the middle of the firefight, and there someone else behind them. Emily then got a brilliant idea. She put the car in reverse, ramming the guy who was shooting their back. She even made sure to go over him a bit with the car. The man on the side was still shooting though. Emily took a hard left, hitting him and throwing him into a glass phone booth.

She then straightened out her wheel and made a turn down the next road she saw, the beaten up cars still following them. One of the men got out and started shooting, so Fury nodded in their direction. Emily did as he said, veering the car to the right and leaning back. The man's head ended up in the car as he still tried to shoot, but Fury grabbed the gun and pistol whipped him. Another car joined Emily's side, the both of them rolling their eyes at how persistent these guys were. "Warning. Approaching intersection."

Emily immediately slammed on her breaks, the two cars still flying straight ahead, just in time for an eighteen wheeler to hit them both. Emily didn't take any time, taking the car down the next turn she could find. "Get us off the grid!" Fury yelled.

"Calculating route to secure location."

Emily's eyes then steadied, seeing a man standing in the middle of their lane. He had some sort of weapon, dressed in all black, hair dark and long, but a mask was covering his face. There was one distinctly odd thing about him, though. His arm was all silver with one single red star.

He shot something off, and at this point, there was nothing they could do about it. It hit the bottom of their car, sitting there for a moment before blowing up. The back of the car went up, Fury and Emily immediately grabbing the handle bars on both sides as the car flipped over onto its top before sliding a bit to the right.

The man had no emotion on his face as he stepped out of the way to make sure the car didn't hurt him. When it finally skidded to a stop, he calmly walked over there with a swagger since one arm was heavier than the other.

Both Emily and Fury groaned as they laid on the ceiling of the car, not sure what to do for a moment. Fury then pulled out a miniature flame thrower to etch out a hole through the road they could slip through and get inside the sewers.

The man finally made it up to the car, ripping the driver's side door off to see no one in there, but he most definitely saw the hole. And from there, he began to track them down.

* * *

Melody was sitting on the floor in front of Steve's apartment door with the doughnuts in her hand. She had smiled a little bit to her cousin she saw going into her apartment. Sharon's eyes immediately lit up as she got off the phone to move closer to her. Melody stood up, doughnuts still in hand, but her phone began ringing. Sharon finished up her conversation and Melody ignored Clint's call before the two moved in for a hug.

"How have you been?" Melody asked. They ended up having to give each other a side hug since Sharon was juggling her laundry and Melody the doughnuts.

"I've been good." She spoke excitedly, breaking out of their hug. "Just got off the phone with your grandma."

Melody gave her a tight smile, not wanting to think about how long it's been since she had seen her. "How's she doing?"

Sharon just gave her a tight smile right back, knowing Peggy's condition hadn't improved. "She's holding on." Sharon then nodded towards the apartment, realizing while she was out there. "Waiting on your super soldier great uncle."

Melody chuckled at her phrasing. People just loved to call him that. "Yeah." She spoke, showing off the doughnut box. "Pizza and doughnuts."

Sharon furrowed her brow like she had never thought of that before, but gave her a shrug. "Good combo."

Melody opened up the box and pushed it in her direction. Sharon's eyes light up at the sight of that gloriousness. "Let me guess." Melody began as Sharon's hands danced around the box. "Chocolate with sprinkles." Just as she finished that sentence, Sharon came up with that exact same doughnut. "Just like when we were kids." She spoke while shaking her head.

They suddenly heard footsteps up the stairs, Steve joining the two. Sharon gave him a shy smile, her mouth full of doughnuts. "What took you so long?" Melody teased.

Steve looked to the pizza box he held at his hip. "Massive line, good thing you weren't the one to get it."

Steve then looked Sharon over, Melody taking notice of this immediately, looking at the two back and forth. "You know," Steve spoke, nodding to the laundry basket she was still balancing on her hip. "If you want, you're welcome to use my machine." Melody began to bite her lip, feeling very uncomfortable that her great uncle from the father's side of her family and her cousin from her mother's side of the family were currently flirting. "Might be cheaper than the one in the basement.

Sharon now had the doughnut resting on her laundry basket. "Yeah? What's it cost?"

Steve looked up at her, a hopeful gleam in his eye. "A cup of coffee?"

Melody's mouth immediately fell. She didn't know her great uncle was that smooth. Sharon obviously looked shy, but Melody thought she should go for it. They could both use a significant other in their life at the moment. "Thank you, but," Steve looked down, knowing he had struck out. "I already have a load in downstairs, and you really don't want my scrubs in your machine. I just finished a rotation in the infectious disease ward, so..."

Steve put his hands up in defeat as Melody continued to look back and forth between the two. That was it, she shipped it. "Well, I'll keep my distance."

Sharon turned around to look at the two before going into her apartment. "Hopefully, not too far." Steve looked a little more confident after she said that because he knew he had something of a chance. Melody turned to look at Steve, her eyes wide with how impressed she was, she opened her mouth to speak when Sharon interrupted her. "And I think you left your stereo on."

Steve gave her a nod and a smile before she shut the door. Melody rolled her eyes at him. "You're such an old man."

Steve just looked to his apartment, his "captain" face on. "I didn't leave the stereo on." Melody turned to look at him, a furrow in her brows. Steve nodded to the doughnuts in her hand. "Leave them and we'll go in through the back window." Melody looked to the pizza as Steve put it down before looking back down to the doughnuts in her hand. "Come on." Steve spoke as he noticed she wasn't following him to the stairs.

Melody looked down at the food left before giving out a sigh. "But the food." Steve rolled his eyes at her before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her along with him.

They opened up the back window to his apartment building, Melody hoping he hadn't miscalculated which apartment was his. When they finally got in, Steve moved to his shield resting in the hallway. Melody tried to go forward, but Steve put his hand out so she wouldn't go past him. This led to Melody rolling her eyes, but this was Steve's place and she was going to listen to him.

When they rounded the corner, they realized it was just Fury and Emily leaning on their couch. Steve let out a stressed breath, relaxing his tensed shoulders. Melody was still behind Steve, so she didn't know what was going on. She moved from behind him to see her mother's golden hair, resulting in an eye roll. "Seriously?" Melody complained.

"I don't remember giving either of you a key." Steve spoke, almost disappointed in them.

"You really think we'd need one?" Emily asked, making Melody roll her eyes.

"My wife kicked me out."

Both Melody and Steve shared an uneasy look. "We didn't know you were married." Steve spoke before looking back at the two sitting on his couch.

He shrugged, looking very casual at the moment, that's when Melody thought about why they were sitting around with the lights off. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

"I know, Nick." Steve scoffed as he moved to the lamp nearby. "That's the problem."

That's when they noticed all the blood and cuts on both of their faces. Melody forgot why she was even mad at her mother, wanting to hurry towards her and make sure she was okay, but Emily saw that in Melody's eyes, raising her hand to stop her before she could even make a move. Fury moved to the lamp, shutting it off, both Melody and Steve sharing a worried look before turning back to the pair. Emily pulled out her phone before typing a message, it reading: EARS EVERYWHERE.

Melody and Steve looked to each other again, knowing they had to keep up this charade or any of them could die. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but I had no place else to crash."

Emily put their phone up to them again. SHIELD COMPRIMISED. Melody took a quick breath, feeling like her whole world was falling. These were people that knew everything about her since the moment she was born, and they were compromised. Everything about her was in there. Everything about everyone she loved. "Who else knows about your wife?" Melody asked, not even sure what to ask anymore, but finding that being the best way to subtly ask what the hell was going on.

Emily brought up her phone again, it obviously hurting her stand up as Fury did the same, moving to the two. JUST US. Melody gave her a scared face. Sure, she hadn't had her mom around for much, but she still looked to her as a protector. "Just my friends." Fury finally answered.

"Is that what we are?" Steve asked in a protective manner, annoying Melody.

"Steve," She spoke strictly. "Don't be ridiculous. If they need a place to crash, we'll give them a place to crash."

"Well," Fury spoke, grabbing their attention again. "That's up to you."

Suddenly, shots rang through the apartment, hitting both Nick and Emily. "MOM!" Melody yelled before hurrying to her mangled body on the ground.

Melody turned her over, noticing the blood spilling out of her mouth, but she was still breathing. "Melody!" Steve called in a hushed whisper. "Get away from there!"

Melody looked around, seeing the flash of something run outside the apartment. That's when Melody grabbed Emily and pulled her away just like Steve was doing with Nick. "Mom," Melody whispered right when they stopped, taking her face in her hands. "Mom," She spoke, trying to catch her attention again, but she was like a rag doll. "Mom, look at me."

Nick stopped them, grabbing Steve's hand and slipping a flash drive in it. "Don't, either of you, trust anyone." He mumbled.

Steve's door suddenly broke down, Steve going to check it out as Melody was still paralyzed by her mom bleeding out right in front of her. "Captain Rogers!"

Melody's eyebrows furrowed as she turned around. She knew that voice. It had been around her for her entire life. "Captain," She spoke calmly. That was Sharon all right. "I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service."

"Kate?" Steve simply asked, finding it hard to believe that the girl from across the hall was a member of SHIELD.

Melody simply got up, looking to her cousin with a confused face. "Kate?" That one was more of a sarcastic question than Steve's confusion.

"I'm assigned to protect you." She told him as she hurried around the corner.

"On who's orders?"

When Sharon saw the two laying there, her eyes got wide. "Theirs."

Sharon moved down to them as Melody moved closer to Steve from how scared she had gotten. Her mother looked so lifeless lying there. Sharon immediately pulled out her walkie talkie, pulling it to her lips. "Echo and Foxtrot are both down and unresponsive. I need EMTs."

"Do we have a 20 on the shooter?" The voice immediately asked back.

Melody looked over, seeing that flash of silver again. Steve saw it too, his grip on his shield just getting tighter. "Tell him I'm in pursuit."

That's when Steve slammed out the window right after the shooter. Melody knew she couldn't do that, but she could run really fast. Melody hurried out the door of the apartment, Sharon calling after her, but Melody didn't care. She was going to help get the guy who shot her mother.

She ran down the stairs and out the building, hurrying down the sidewalk, keeping time as the shooter jumped from building to building, trying to get away. She could see Steve jump through the window to get on another building, making her stop and hurry inside and up the stairs. When Melody finally made it up the stairs, she saw the shooter gripping Steve's shield with a metal arm. He looked in her direction before throwing it back to Steve, it hitting him hard in the gut.

With the distraction, the shooter jumped off the building, Melody running to the edge to see if she could spot him, but he had disappeared. It was like he had disappeared out of thin air. Steve joined her, actually jumping on top of the ledge, looking as desperate as her while the sirens rang in the distance and the win ran wild through their hair. The cold, darkness of the night truly settling in as two people they cared for were bleeding out a few buildings over.

 _ **The Winter Soldier is finally here! Are you guys ready for Melody/Winter Soldier interactions. Ugh, my heart is just breaking thinking about when Melody finds out who he really is. Remember to review your thoughts and let me know what you guys want to see more of!**_


	4. Death

Steve and Melody stood in the watching room as the operations began on Nick and Emily. Melody was gripping onto the ledge so tight, she was afraid she would soon lose all feelings in her fingers. The door opened and shut quickly, but Melody didn't turn around. Three people piled in the room, standing right next to her. Natasha, Clint and Rhodey.

Rhodey gasped at the look of his girlfriend lying on a hospital bed, looking paler than ever. Natasha was just like Melody, gripping the ledge for fear that neither of them would make it. Clint was the closest to Melody, putting a comforting hand on hers. Every bit of anger she had left for him melted away in that moment. She didn't care right now if Clint was lying to her. It didn't matter. What mattered was if her mother was going to make it out of there, and if she didn't she would have someone there to comfort her.

"Are they gonna make it?" Natasha finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know." Steve finally said.

Melody swallowed a huge lump in her throat at the look of their heart rates. "What the hell happened?" Rhodey asked, sounding more scared than he intentionally wanted to.

"A hit." Melody spoke in a hoarse voice, Steve looking to her, slightly shocked. Those were the first words she said since the apartment.

"Tell me about the shooter." Clint demanded, getting angry himself.

Bringing the shooter up just made Melody grab the ledge tighter. "He's fast." Steve concluded before looking down, thinking about him all over again. "Strong." One thing he couldn't get his mind off of was his arm. "Had a metal arm."

Maria walked in slowly, placing herself next to Rhodey. If she wouldn't have talked, Melody probably wouldn't have noticed her. "Three slugs perfectly and exactly in each; no rifling. Completely untraceable."

"Soviet-made." Natasha whispered. That was the one thing to make Melody look away from her mother. How the hell did she know that?

"Yeah." Maria spoke, the same look on her face that was on Melody's and the same question running through her brain.

The beeping increased, everyone who wasn't looking turned back. This time, Melody turned her hand over, gripping Clint's hand so tight. It was almost like she thought Death was going to take him too. It was like dominoes, the second Emily flat lined, so did Fury. "Come on." Melody whispered. Her mother was a fighter. She could fight her way out of this. "Come on." She continued to whisper those words as if her mother would be able to hear her.

"Don't do this to me, Nick." Natasha whispered just as desperately as Melody.

"Wake up, Em." Rhodey whispered, gripping onto the ledge like Melody and Natasha.

There were two defibrillators, one going to Nick and the other going to Emily. Once they did their first shock, nothing happened. A second shock, nothing. Melody felt herself moving with the defibrillator, continuously whispering those two words over and over again like they were religion.

Shortly after the second shock had no effect, they called it. Steve was the first to turn away. Melody's face twisted into complete anguish as Clint pulled her into him. Rhodey began to step back, finding himself shocked. He looked over to Clint and Melody, staggering back a little more as her cries echoed through the room. He slowly backed up until he walked out of the door. He needed to be alone. Maria bit her lip, not sure what to do. She knew she had to step up and fix things, but she just couldn't. She lost two mentors. She hurried out of the room so no one would see her cry.

Natasha, she just continued to stand there as Melody cried into Clint's chest. She wanted to cry like Melody. She wanted to let out all of her sadness, but she didn't feel like she had the right. Melody lost a mother, but Natasha lost a…something. A mother and father figure? Mentors? She wasn't quite sure. She stood her ground, though. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry. She just stared at the bodies, feeling her eyes poke at tears, but she wasn't going to let them fall.

* * *

Day had come, and Steve, Melody, Rhodey, Natasha and Clint were eventually escorted to see the bodies. Rhodey, Melody and Steve stood in the back of the room while Clint and Natasha stood close to the bodies. Melody was like a zombie. She didn't want to see her mother like that. She was the strongest woman she knew and here she was lying lifeless.

Maria eventually joined them in the back. "They need to take them." She whispered. The second she said that, Melody bolted out of the room. Everyone turned to look at her, but Steve was the only one to follow. Rhodey was about to follow her out, but Maria stopped him. They had a lot to talk about.

Steve moved to her in the hall as she leaned up against the wall, grabbing her shoulders to try and force her to look at him, but she just kept looking down. "Talk to me." He pleaded.

"I'm an orphan now."

Steve opened his mouth, about to say something when Natasha burst out of the room with Clint following quickly behind. "Why were Fury and Carter in your apartment?" She demanded to Steve, Melody looking to her as if she had gone completely insane.

"I don't know." He answered hopelessly.

"Cap," Rumlow called from their right side, Melody rolling her eyes slightly. "Barnes, they want you both back at SHIELD."

"Yeah," Steve spoke, looking back to Melody, really worried about her in that moment. "Give us a second."

"They want you now."

Steve turned away from Melody, wondering if he even had a heart. His niece had just lost her only parent left if you didn't count Tony's legal obligation. She couldn't go to SHIELD. Not in this state she was in. "Okay." Steve bit right back.

Steve turned back to Natasha as she shook her head at him. "You're a terrible liar." With that she stormed off, but Clint continued to stand there, just looking at his girlfriend in an almost shock.

Clint moved forward, getting right into Melody's ear. "Who's keeping secrets from who now?"

Melody looked to him, wanting to punch him in the face for saying that to her. How dare he?! She had just lost her mother because of a secret and now he was throwing that in her face. She looked to him, murder in her eyes. She didn't want to start a scene so she just shook her head at him before speaking, "Walk away from me."

He did as she said, but she was still fuming. She looked to Steve then down at the flash drive he was gripping in his hands. "Don't trust anyone." Melody quoted before looking back up at her uncle. It had to be just the two of them on this. And that's how it was going to be.

Steve looked over at the man who was stalking food in the vending machine, looking down at the flash drive, getting an idea for a safe place to keep it while they were gone.

* * *

Steve and Melody were now in their uniforms, walking into Alexander Pierce's office. Sharon was actually talking to him, making Melody roll her eyes. She was the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. She began to walk past them, nodding in their direction. "Captain Rogers."

"Neighbor." Steve retorted nastily. Sharon turned around to look at him, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Captain," Pierce said, putting his hand out to shake it before looking to Melody, reaching out for her hand. "Miss. Barnes." He gave her a little chuckle. "You're all grown up." Melody furrowed her eyebrows. She had no recollection of ever meeting this man. Sure, she knew who he was, but she didn't know him. "I'm Alexander Pierce."

"Yes, sir." Steve spoke, breaking Melody out of her confusion. "It's an honor."

"The honor's mine, Captain." He told him with a nod. "My father served in the 101st, come on in."

The pair looked to each other before walking in, having an odd feeling about the whole thing. When they were in the office, he kept babbling about how far he, Nick and Emily went back, showing them different pictures of the three. If he gave Melody a picture, she would give it right back. She didn't want to look at her mother in pictures at the moment. It reminded her that pictures were the only way she would be alive. He had passed Steve a picture of Nick swearing into office. Melody really didn't want to look at that picture either. Mostly because Emily was in the background as a young SHIELD agent, probably before Emily and her father ever met.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met, when I was at State Department in Bogota." He looked down in memory, but Melody continued to look straight forward, Steve looking to her, never being more worried. "ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the SHIELD. station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.' Turned out, the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty." Pierce finally sat down across from them, looking each of them in the eye before speaking again. "Nick had ignored my direct order, and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, and saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."

He then looked to Melody, giving her a sad smile. "And your mother, Melody, she was a fantastic agent. I promoted her shortly after your father died." Melody went rigid at the mention of her father. "She continued to go on despite his death, and she went above and beyond for SHIELD. Hard work is something I don't ignore." He gave her a sad smile. "I just hope the two are together again. My condolences to you."

Melody just stared at him. Why the hell was he bringing all of this up? Did he not understand how all of this made her feel? Someone had just assassinated her mother and here they were playing tea instead of finding out who the hell that shooter was. "Thank you." She spoke, that rigid voice dripping out.

"Captain," He spoke, turning back to Steve as Melody's hands grew into fists. "Why were Nick and Emily in your apartment last night?"

"I don't know." Steve answered simply with a shrug.

"Did you know it was bugged?"

"I did." Steve told him with a nod. This whole conversation just seemed to take a turn. Almost like a mission report. "Because Nick told me."

"Did he tell you he and Emily were the ones who bugged it?" Steve slowly turned to look at Melody, her looking back to Pierce as if she was now scared of him. She wasn't sure if she could really trust him. So was Steve.

"I want you to see something." He had the two look to a screen where they were showing Georges Batroc. A man was circling him while asking questions.

"Is that live?" Melody asked. For the first time since her mother died, she didn't look like a zombie.

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve asked, confused. "Assassination isn't Batroc's line."

"No, no. It's more complicated than that." Melody looked to Pierce, ready for him to give her more information.

"Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And he was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts. The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech."

Melody took the paperwork as he leaned forward, giving it to the two. Her eyes immediately scanned the page as Steve just continued to look at Pierce. "Am I supposed to know who that is?

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago." Steve looked up, but Melody was already ahead of that, as she went through the paperwork. "His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

Melody looked up at that. "Are you saying Fury and my mother hired the pirates?" Melody demanded. He opened his mouth to talk, but Melody wasn't even going to let him. "Why?"

"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick and Emily's death."

"If you really knew Nick Fury and Emily Carter, you'd know that's not true." Melody spat out. He was basically calling her mother a thief before she was even in the ground.

"Why do you think we're talking?" Melody and Steve looked to each other again as the three of them all stood up, but it was mostly side eye. All of this smelled too fishy. If Nick and Emily were really to do this, they wouldn't be so careless about it. It all seemed so…staged. "See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. So was Emily. The three of us knew that, despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down." He was looking out the window before looking back to them. "And that makes enemies. Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today makes me really, really angry."

Pierce stared the two down and the two stared him right back down. Something about him was just off. They could both feel it. "Captain, Barnes, you were the last two to see Nick and Emily alive. I don't think that's an accident. And I don't think you do, either. So, I'm gonna ask again. Why were they there?"

Melody and Steve had a moment of body language, both of them agreeing that they weren't going to tell that man _anything_. "Nick told us not to trust anyone."

"I wonder if that included him and Emily."

Melody gave him a bit of a sarcastic smile before answering him. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words."

"Excuse us." Steve spoke with a nod before placing his hand on Melody's back and guiding her towards the door.

"Captain, Barnes," They both turned around to see him almost directly behind them. Steve made sure to stand in front of Melody for protection, but she was still peeking out somewhat. "Somebody murdered my friends and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it." His eyes narrowed on Melody, like he thought she was the weak one out of the two. If only he knew. "Anyone."

"Understood." She spat out nastily before Steve guided her out of the room and to the elevator.

The two stood there, waiting for it to open, Melody not wanting to talk until they were completely alone and in a confined place. The two leaned against the railing, overlooking the city, Melody shaking her head. "I don't like him. There's something off about this whole thing."

Steve shook his head, looking out just like she was doing. "I know." Steve turned to the elevator doors, commanding where he would like to go before the doors began to close. They suddenly stopped, Rumlow and a few STRIKE guys joining them. Steve and Melody just kept to themselves.

As soon as the elevator started going, Rumlow turned to the two. "Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac team ready?"

Steve turned to Melody, knowing she would know more about all of that. "No, let's wait and see what it is first." Melody actually smiled a little bit, thinking about her argument with her mother. And she thought she didn't help run that group.

"Right." Rumlow nodded before looking forward again. As Melody looked around, trying not to make this ride awkward, she noticed that Jones had his hand on his weapon. Her eyebrows furrowed at that, but shook her head. Maybe he was just on edge. She would let that one slide for now.

The elevator stopped again, more men getting on. These men were dressed in suits and ties, one getting in between Steve and Melody, Melody ending up on the right side of the elevator and Steve on the left. "Excuse me." He apologized, but Melody still couldn't get to Steve, it was like they were intentionally making it that way. Sure there were a lot of people that worked for SHIELD, but she had never see a SHIELD elevator this crowded before.

The doors closed and Rumlow turned to look at Melody who was now standing right behind him. "I'm sorry about what happened with your mom." She looked to him, her panic settling in. Something was going on. That was evident. "It's messed up what happened to her and Fury."

"Thank you." Melody spoke just above a whisper before he turned his head around to smile at her.

Melody then looked to Steve across the way, noticing he was staring at one of the men in the suits. Her eyes wandered to him and she noticed what Steve had to have been noticing now. He was sweating. A lot more than a man should in a suit and tie in a conditioned elevator. Melody was sure if she bumped into him, she would be able to feel his heartbeat pulsating out.

The elevator stopped again. Three more got in, one of them being Rollins. He stopped right in front of Steve with two large men flanking him. Melody and Steve shared a worried look as the doors closed again, Melody feeling like it was locking her into her death.

Melody looked around. There were ten guys and only two of them. Melody and Steve shared a look, wondering how the fight would play out. It could go either way. "Before we get started," Steve finally announced, the whole elevator falling quiet. "Does anyone want to get out?"

Everyone was still, Rollins being the first to move. A taser emerged out of his hand before throwing it into Steve's gut. Brock turned to Melody, but she kicked him into the elevator wall, leaving a dent in it. Half of the men went to Steve while the other half moved to Melody. They had Steve by tooth and nail, and before Brock went up to hit Melody again, he slammed the "emergency stop" button.

One man tried to come at Melody, but she grabbed him, pushing him to the window, ending in him flying out. She looked panicked for a moment, that's when Brock pinned her arm to the wall with his hand. She continued to punch him with her free arm, but Jones caught it and pinned it to the wall as well. She kicked wildly, but a few guys in the suits were trying to stop her legs. She actually kicked one so hard he went flying to the other end of the elevator. That distracted Melody more than anything. How did she do that?

One of the men tore off the handle to his brief case, attaching it to Melody's wrist. Her wrist was immediately attracted to the metal of the elevator, but she fought it, pulling it away. She looked to Steve, the men attacking him trying to do the same thing. That's when he broke one of their legs with his kick, that inspiring to Melody enough. She rammed her head into one guy's head, knocking him unconscious before slamming her first into another guy, the cuff breaking off instantly.

Steve continued with his own fight, each of them successfully knocking down everyone except Rumlow and Rollins. Rumlow continued to go after Melody while Rollins went for Steve. Rumlow landed one of the tasers into Melody's back, making Melody scream, but it was more from the shock. It didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would. Melody kicked him back into the elevator wall while Steve picked Rollins up and flipped him over, the second his head hit the floor, it was lights out.

Melody and Steve ended up right next to each other, their attention going right to Rumlow who had a taser in his hand. Both of their faces were twisted into anger as they looked to him. "Whoa, big guy." Melody rolled her eyes at the fact that he was talking just to Steve. Now she was going to make sure she was personally the person to knock him out. "I just want you two to know, this isn't personal."

After that last word, he went after them, Melody simply moving out of the way, jabbing her hand into his neck before punching him in the face and throwing him up to the ceiling. He crashed into it, some of the lights now hanging. Before he even made it to the ground, he was out cold. "Yeah, well," Melody scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. "It kind of feels personal."

Steve picked up his shield before pressing the "emergency stop" button to open up the elevator. When they did, though, a lot of men with a lot of guns were waiting for them. Steve panicked, doing the first thing that came to mind. He grabbed Melody, kneeling down with her before cutting the lines to the elevator. They took a free fall before it came to a harsh stop, both of them falling a bit.

Melody moved to the doors, prying them open before finding more men running to them. She struggled in shutting them, but it eventually worked. She turned to Steve, helpless. "We're surrounded."

Steve turned around looking to the hole in the window. "Not completely surrounded."

Melody just began to shake her head vigorously. "No."

"Yes." Steve spoke as he hurried to her and grabbed her by her side before jumping through the window with her.

Melody tried not to scream on her way down, Steve moving the shield and his body to absorb most of the shock for Melody as they crashed through the window ceiling and eventually the floor. Melody rolled off of Steve, taking in deep pained breaths before sitting up and pulling Steve with her.

The pair made it for the garage, getting on Steve's motorcycle just as the doors were closing. Melody looked to the doors as Steve began to rev the engine. "We're not gonna make it."

Steve revved it again, making Melody hold onto his waist a little tighter. "When did you become so pessimistic?"

With that, he shot off, Melody burying her face in his back, feeling how close they were to being crushed as they made it out. Melody turned around to look at the doors, sighing a breath of relief. As they continued, they noticed the spikes coming up further down the road. One of the aircrafts she had just made came rushing out of the garage, making her roll her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Stand down!" They knew that voice anywhere. That was Jasper Sitwell.

"Melody," Steve spoke, slightly turning to her. "I've got an idea, but you're gonna have to get off the bike."

Melody sighed. "Why me?" She slowly began to get up, steadying herself as she stood on the seat of the bike, taking a deep breath before flipping off. She rolled a little bit, but she caught herself, pushing one leg back and bending the other as she put her gloved hand out, the friction making her slow down. Once she had fully stopped, she flipped the hair that was in her face back to look at what Steve was doing.

He chucked his shield at one of the motors, Melody finding herself wince just a little bit. Those were still her babies even if they were trying to kill her. He then squeezed the breaks, making the bike come up a little, giving him perfect leverage to jump on top of the helicarrier and retrieve his shield while doing some damage along the way. The helicarrier ended up falling into the water, Steve flipping off and landing perfectly in front of Melody.

She rolled her eyes at him which he just gave her a cocky smile to. "Show off."

Steve turned around to access all the damage before looking to his bike. "Let's get out of here."

"Please." Melody spoke, hopping on almost faster than Steve. As they began to drive, Melody went into Steve's ear. "Where's the flash drive?"

"In safe keeping." Steve yelled over to roar of the wind and the engine.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Steve didn't answer her, making Melody let out a deep sigh before laying her head on his back from exhaustion. "You're buying me a smoothie and getting me out of this tight uniform."

* * *

Melody was slurping the last of her smoothie, now wearing sweat pants and a hoodie, Steve doing the same. They paid in cash. It worked for Steve, he never liked using cards, for Melody, it was like the sky was falling. "But I only have like twenty bucks on me." "Twenty bucks, that's good." "I'm worth one hundred seventy million, that is most definitely not good. SHIELD can't even _afford_ to kill me."

Right now, they were walking through the hospital toward the vending machine where Steve had hidden the flash drive. When they made it to the vending machine, Steve had a lost look on his face. Every bit of gum was gone that he hid it behind. "Where is it?" Melody panicked.

"It was _right_ there." He ensured.

That's when they saw Natasha and Clint in the reflection of the glass, Natasha blowing a big pink bubble, making Melody straighten out as Clint just smiled that know-it-all smile. Melody and Steve both slowly turned around to the two as Natasha just smirked. At this point, Melody was done playing nice with everyone. She grabbed Natasha's arm, much more harshly than Natasha thought she would and pushed her into an empty room as Steve and Clint followed, just as shocked as Natasha.

Melody slammed Natasha into a wall, Natasha grunting from how hard it was. Why was Melody so damn strong? Like freakishly strong. "Where is it?" She growled out.

"Safe."

Melody squeezed her arms a little tighter, a darkness flashing over her eyes. At the death of her mother, Melody had simply lost it. "Do better."

"Where did you two get it?" Clint asked.

Melody rolled her eyes, not turning away from Natasha. "Oh, why do you care?" She was still way too mad at Clint for him to interrupt her like that and expect to make it out alive.

"Fury and Carter gave it to you." Natasha almost whispered. "Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve demanded.

"I don't know."

"Stop lying." Melody squeezed her arms tighter, Natasha actually wincing this time.

"She only acts like she knows everything." Clint spoke while moving Melody off of Natasha, but Melody didn't stop staring at her. Natasha was actually scared. She had seen Melody go dark before, but never this dark. She could actually feel bruises coming up from where her hands had gripped her.

Melody turned to Clint, this time, more accusation on her face than ever before. She didn't trust Clint. Not anymore. "Did you know Fury and my mom hired the pirates?"

He looked around before making eye contact with her again. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

Steve moved next to Melody, the accusation matching. You could really tell they were related there. "We're not gonna ask again."

"I know who killed Fury and Carter."

Everyone turned around to look at Natasha who was still leaning against the wall. Melody's eyes seemed to soften for a moment, but they went right back to that darkness, thinking about who killed her mother. All three of them began to move closer to her, waiting for more information. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones that do call him the Winter Soldier."

Melody turned her head to the side, thinking of that metal arm all over again. It moved so fast in the night. And that single red star. If she didn't know any better she would say it was Soviet. "He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last _fifty_ years."

"So," Clint began, his arms crossed in thought. "He's a ghost story."

"Oh," Melody scoffed while turning around to look at him. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on."

"I'm just in the dark as you are." He snapped.

"And how the hell am I supposed to believe you now?"

"Five years ago," Natasha interrupted, everyone turning back to her. "I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Someone shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there." Melody and Steve shared a glance. If someone were to tell them this yesterday, they might not believe it, but they also never thought they would be SHIELD fugitives. "I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." That's when she picked up her shirt, revealing a bullet wound. It still looked new, but Melody had scars on her body like that too. "Soviet slug." Melody's head picked up at that, remembering the red star. "No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis."

"Yeah." Steve scoffed sarcastically. "I bet you look terrible in them now."

"Going after him is a dead end. Like Clint said," Natasha spoke desperately as Melody and Clint looked to each other. It was crazy how someone you planned to share your whole life with could turn into a complete stranger in a matter of days. "He's a ghost story."

She brought out the flash drive, Steve taking it from her before looking back to Clint and Melody. Lately, it had seemed like Clint and Natasha were on a completely different side than Steve and Melody, but right now, they needed to all work together. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE – PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING**

 _ **WOO, we're getting into the action! I put some parallels in here because I love parallels so much. Let me know in the reviews if you guys caught them! Please remember to review, guys! I want to get at least two reviews per chapter to see how you guys are liking the story and what I can do to make it more enjoyable for you guys. Even ASDFGHJKL; can work. Just let me know you're enjoying or what I can do to improve! And if you guys are interested in getting sent a family tree (because let's face it, Melody's families are getting more complicated by the minute) PM me an email address and I'll send it to you through a word document! Also, remember to check out my poll on my profile!**_


	5. HYDRA

The four walked through the mall, Natasha and Steve leading while Melody and Clint tailed. They needed people on the front and the back just in case anyone had tracked them down here. Melody turned to look behind her, before looking straight ahead again. "You're being a little obvious, don't you think?"

Natasha and Steve were talking, not paying attention to Clint and Melody's conversation at all. "I've gone undercover before."

"But not from SHIELD." Clint whispered to her.

Melody wanted to almost stop walking and get into an argument with him right in the middle of the square. She was going to contain herself though. She wasn't going to start this. "Neither have you."

"I have more practice in this than you."

"Clint," Melody sighed out while shutting her eyes. "The more you talk, the more you're getting away from marriage."

Clint stopped walking as Melody ducked into the Apple store with Steve and Natasha. He wanted to scream, curse everyone and anything that had ever come between him and Melody. He loved her, that part would never change. He would always love her, but now, she was just becoming a different person. Yes, he shouldn't have lied, but he didn't realize that one action could send their relationship tumbling down.

When Clint got in the store, he was trudging, Melody looking over to him as Natasha handed her the flash drive. She felt bad for what she said, but she felt like it needed to be said. He couldn't keep things from her and then command her to do things. When she thought back on it, though, she was keeping something from him to. She hadn't told him she was dying. Granted, she hadn't told anyone, but shouldn't her soul mate be the first one she told?

She looked to Clint as he moved to the group, giving him a light squeeze on the arm, making him turn to her. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Clint's eyebrows furrowed. Why was she apologizing? It was him who had started this in the first place. "I love you."

Clint continued to give her a confused face, Steve and Natasha just looking back and forth between the two, wondering just what the hell they missed back there. "I love you." Clint reassured with a slight smile.

She gave his arm another squeeze before looking back to the computer they had chosen to work on. "Alright," Melody addressed to everyone while holding up the stick. "This drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are."

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked while surveying the shop.

"Nine minutes from…" Natasha waited until Melody dramatically plugged in the drive. "Now."

Steve gave her a slight eye roll before looking back to the computer, everyone gathering around her. Melody began working her magic, the only person really following being Natasha. Both men were completely lost. "Fury and…" Melody trailed off a little bit, still finding that pill hard to swallow. "My mom were right about the ship. Someone's trying to hide something."

"What do you mean?" Clint asked, leaning forward.

"The drive is protected by some kind of AI." She explained, the files continuing to lock up on her. "It keeps renewing itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Natasha asked, leaning in even closer. Melody looked around at the people. The people walking by probably thought they were the sketchiest people in here. They were all huddled around one computer, talking in hushed whispers. If that didn't turn heads, she didn't know what would.

She looked back down at the computer, shaking her head. "The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me." Clint raised her eyebrow at her, not able to believe that came out of her mouth. "Only slightly." She defended.

Clint gave her a little smile which she returned, Clint feeling like they were getting closer again. Melody turned back to the computer, getting a sudden idea. "Okay," she whispered before pounding away on the buttons again. "I'm gonna run a tracer." She looked to Steve and Clint, knowing the two were completely lost. It was Natasha's turn to give the slight eye roll. "This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't _read_ the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with anything?"

They all turned, Steve in a panic, but Melody handled it perfectly. She wrapped her arms around Clint, clinging to his arm. "My fiancé and our maid of honor and best man were just helping us with honeymoon destinations."

She gave the man a bright smile, a little smirk crossing Clint's face. How ironic that's what she went to. "Yeah." He told him with a bright smile while pushing the fake glasses up the bridge of his nose and Melody adjusted her cap. They were so scared they were going to get recognized. They weren't the most famous, but they were recognizable. "We're getting married."

"Congratulations!" The man told them excitedly while throwing his hands in the air. "Where are you guys thinking about going?"

Melody wanted to roll her eyes at how cocky Clint looked at that point.

Steve turned to look at the computer before muttering, "New Jersey." Both Melody and Clint slowly turned to look at him at why the hell he would say New Jersey out of all places. That's when they noticed the computer before turning back to the man, smiling excitedly at their fake honeymoon.

The man then looked to Steve, like he had recognized him. Panic flushed through all of their systems. The man just smiled before pointing to the glasses Steve was wearing. "I have the exact same glasses."

They all let out a nervous laugh before Natasha shrugged. "Wow, you two are practically twins."

"I wished." The man scoffed.

"Yeah, me too." Clint whispered while looking off into the distance. Melody turned around to Clint like he was insane. "He's a specimen." He whispered in her ear, making Melody place her hand on her mouth to keep her from laughing out loud.

"Well," the man said while stepping back slightly. "If you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."

"Thank you." Steve and Melody spoke in unison politely, waiting until he had turned all the way around to look back to the computer.

"You said nine minutes." Steve whispered urgently.

"Relax." Melody spoke in a calming tone while patting him on the arm. "I got it."

Steve seemed to move in closer at what was on the screen. "Do you know it?" Natasha asked, confused at his face just like everyone else was.

"I used to." He whispered before leaning forward and ripping out the flash drive. Melody slightly panicked at the fear it would damage either the drive or the computer. "Let's go."

Everyone began to hurry out the store, Melody seeming to be the only one worried for the computer. With a large sigh, she followed everyone, Clint wrapping his arm around her and pulling her in closer, making sure to be a few people behind Steve and Natasha. Melody looked around, slightly panicking. "Two across, two behind."

"Two coming straight at us." Clint whispered.

Melody turned to him, dragging him by the escalator before planting a kiss on his lips. She did it until the men passed by, her eyes opening slightly, but her lips still puckered. When she pulled away, Clint's lips were still puckered and his eyes still closed. "Barton." Melody complained.

His eyes opened and his lips straightened out to see Melody's smirk. "Control yourself. We're on a mission."

"I can't, you're such a good kisser."

Melody rolled her eyes, but she couldn't fight the blood that rushed to her cheeks in a bright red. "Come on, we have to find Steve and Nat."

They held hands that time, meeting the two towards the end of the mall like they had discussed if they got separated. Steve's eyes seemed to be wide, Melody turning her head to the side at this, but neither of them were saying anything. That wasn't the key problem at the minute, though. They had to get out of there and to New Jersey.

* * *

Steve was driving, Natasha in the front with Clint and Melody in the back. Melody was currently asleep on Clint, Clint completely content with this. He loved to watch her sleep. His arm was starting to cramp up, but he didn't dare move it. It was so nice to watch her look so peaceful when lately she had been so stressed. "She asleep?"

Clint picked his head up at that, looking to Steve before looking back at Melody. "Yeah." He then remembered his best friend in the front seat. "Nat?"

"Yeah." Steve spoke, looking straight ahead. It was quiet, the car filled with the deep breaths of sleep, but Steve couldn't let it be quiet for much longer. They both had a lot to talk about. "She's been real hurt the past few days."

"I've apologized for it."

"Yeah, but not to me."

The truck was quiet again, Clint looking up at him. "I'm sorry."

Yet again, it was quiet. "You know," Steve began. "If you're going to be married to her, there's no secrets."

Clint's head whipped up, his fast action almost jostling Melody. "How do you know about that?"

"How do I _not_ know about that?" Steve scoffed. "You're not exactly subtle."

Clint was quiet some more before looking back to Melody. "Do you not want me to marry her?"

Steve shook his head. "No, I want you to. You make her happy, and I know how she makes you feel." Steve then looked at him in the rearview mirror. "Just don't hurt her again."

Clint got a little smile on his face before looking back down at his sleeping beauty. "Yes, Captain."

* * *

The sun was setting when they finally pulled up, Melody and Natasha both now wide awake. When they walked up, they were blocked by a gate, Steve revealing the fact that this is where he went through basic training. "This camp is where I was trained." Steve almost whispered after they climbed over the fence.

"Change much?" Natasha asked, but she didn't sound totally interested.

"A little." He whispered. He could almost see himself and the other men in his company running down the track. He inhaled a sharp breath, thinking about himself before he was given the serum. That was so long ago.

"This is a dead end." Melody spoke while throwing her hands in the air. "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio."

Clint moved closer to her, furrowing his eyebrows to look at her reader. "Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off."

Steve seemed to be looking off into nothing, Melody furrowing her brows and following his gaze. He began taking off towards a shed, Natasha, Melody and Clint sharing a confused look before running to catch up with him. "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place."

When they got to the opening, Steve slammed his shield into the lock, it breaking with one hit. Steve opened up the door, all they could see were the beginning of stairs leading into the darkness. They all walked slow, Melody holding on to Clint's hand as they walked down, Natasha being the first to find the light switch.

When they got all the way into the room, they noticed the old SHIELD logo painted on the back wall. "This is SHIELD." Natasha whispered.

"Maybe where it started." Steve agreed.

The four made it to some framed pictures, Melody's breath catching in her throat. Her eyes immediately went to the picture of Maria. She knew she looked like her, but it was different to see a picture of her in the age she was in right now. "Maria and Howard Stark."

"Wow." Clint whispered, Melody looking just as shocked as her. Steve just smiled at her picture. That was his sister. And she looked…so happy with Howard. He wished he could have seen it. "She looks just like you, Mel."

Melody's eyes then drifted over to the picture of Peggy. She began to smile. She loved the look of her there. She looked so strong, like the grandmother she knew.

Steve moved over to the multiple shelves, Melody moving with him too. He began to inspect it, Melody's eyebrows furrowing. "What is it?"

Steve didn't turn away from the shelves. "If you're already working in a secret office," He pulled one of the shelves to the side, making all of them jump at the secret door. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

"Maybe there were secrets kept from the secret keepers." Melody whispered, still mesmerized by it.

"That," Clint began, eyes still stuck on the elevator, but eyebrows furrowed. "Makes no sense."

Melody rolled her eyes before stepping forward with Natasha, breaking the code to get inside. They went all the way down to the bottom level, lights cutting on as they walked in. It seemed to be some kind of computer room, but it was old. Melody wouldn't even begin to know how to use it because of its age. "There's no way this is the data point," Melody spoke as she stepped onto the stage of the main computer. "This technology is ancient."

But as Melody looked down, there was a newer drive connected to the old computers. Melody felt her pockets, pulling out the cold metal she felt, studying it for a moment before plugging it in. All the computers began to click on, the four looking to each other in fear as the cameras lifted up to study them. When they turned back to the computer, it read "INITIATE SYSTEM?"

Natasha moved forward, deciding to be the one to type in "yes". Once she did, a smile spread on her face, her voice getting suddenly deeper. "'Shall we play a game?'"

Melody and Clint both rolled their eyes as Steve looked unamused. "It's from a movie – " She began to explain.

"I know." Steve cut her off, that unamused look still on his face. "I saw it."

The system began to boot up, something that looked like a face finally popping up. "Rogers, Steven," They all turned to look at Steve, eyes wide as Steve simply went rigid. "Born 1918."

"Barnes," Melody looked to the computer system, this time all eyes going to her. "Melody, born 1989. Barton, Clinton, born 1971. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna, born 1984."

Melody shook her head. It seemed unlikely, but she was going to go with the least threatening option. "It's some kind of recording."

"I am not a recording, Fraulein." Melody looked offended that the computer had insulted her, making her want to punch it. "I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am."

A picture flashed on the screen next to the main one, all of their eyes going there. Clint turned to look at Steve across from Melody, his face confused. "You know this thing, Cap?"

Steve looked panicked before moving behind the computer system to check it out. "Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss." Melody began to feel her heart trying to jump out of her chest, she couldn't place it, but she had a feeling like something bad was going to happen. "Second, look around you. I have never been more alive." Steve had come from the other end of the monitors, both him and Melody sharing that worried look. He could feel it too. "In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving, on two hundred thousand feet of databanks." Steve came up again, taking his place next to Melody again. "You are standing in my brain."

"How did you get here?" Steve spit out.

"Invited."

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II." Clint spoke, everyone turning to look at him as he spoke. "SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value."

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." His voice got sinister, that feeling spreading even deeper into Melody.

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Steve informed while shaking his head.

"Cut off one head," A HYDRA symbol showed up on the screen, Melody moving to Clint's hand, holding it tighter than ever before. "Two more shall take its place."

"Prove it." Melody almost begged him to stop. She didn't want to know. She felt like she would be completely fine never knowing.

"Accessing archive." A propaganda video of HYDRA popped up on a screen, all of them looking to it. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist." Videos of Steve came up, leading the Howling Commandos. "The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly." Pictures that they had all seen framed out there showed, a young Peggy, Howard and Maria. "After the war, SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD for 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate," Melody saw that red star on that metal arm again, this time feeling almost murderous. "History was changed."

"That's impossible." Natasha spoke. When Melody looked to her, all she was doing was shaking her head. All the proof was right in front of them, but it was all just too hard to believe. "SHIELD would have stopped you."

"Accidents happen." A flash of a newspaper came up. It was reporting Howard and Maria's death. Then, there was a video. It didn't have any sound, but Melody recognized it that instant. A man with dark hair was lying in a hospital bed.

"That's my dad." She whispered. Everyone looked to her before looking back to the video, wanting to see what was going to happen next. "What's happening?" She saw the man with the metal arm walk into his room, a gasp taking her voice. "What is he doing?" She could just barely make that out. He had a syringe in his hand. "Get away from him!" She screamed like she could stop it, but this was in the past. He had put whatever was in the syringe in his IV and left before her father began convulsing.

Melody screamed out in agony before Clint pulled her into his chest, knowing she didn't need to see anymore. She peaked out of his chest, though. Just in time to see a picture of her mother and Nick Fury flash on the screen. She was shaking, in a mix of shock and sadness. "You killed my entire family." She whispered. She knew now, it wasn't Death taking them all out, she couldn't put the blame on that cruel bitch. It was HYDRA. HYDRA was the one taking them out one by one, but everyone was just too blind to see it.

"Tell me, Ms. Barnes," Melody turned her head out of his chest, thinking back on the same symptoms she was having. "Are you feeling sickly?"

She turned all the way out of Clint's chest that time, wanting to murder that computer. "Fuck you!" Clint could only look at her. Was she dying?

"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security." The aircrafts for Project Insight came up and Melody shook her head. She thought she was making those for the better good, but really, HYDRA was just using her skills before they killed her. "Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA'S new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum."

Steve went forward, punching the screen from anger. They all stood there, Melody not helping the silent tears falling down her cheeks.

Another screen next to the main one came up, making them all turn to it. "As I was saying..."

"What's on this drive?" Steve demanded, getting close to the other screen.

"Project Insight requires _insight_. So, I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm?" Natasha demanded, moving right behind Steve, but all Clint and Melody could do was continue to stand there. "What does it do?"

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

The door behind them began to lock, Steve trying to throw his shield to stop it, but it was just too late. Natasha's phone then began to beep, Clint and Melody finally looking over at her. "Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. Thirty seconds tops."

"Who fired it?"

"SHIELD." Melody whispered, knowing who instantly, Natasha confirming with a nod.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain." Natasha moved to get the flash drive as Clint dragged Melody away from the computer. She was numb, though. She would be lying if she said she didn't think about staying there and letting herself be incinerated. "Admit it. It's better this way." Steve pulled up a vent, Clint practically throwing Melody in before jumping in after her. "We are, both of us, out of time."

Steve and Natasha jumped in just in time, putting his shield out as protection while Clint covered Melody's body with his entire body, not really caring what was going to happen to him at the moment, only worrying about her. Clint didn't know if it was the heat, the pressure, the stress or if something hit his head, but at some point down there, he had lost consciousness. So had Natasha.

Once they knew it was safe to come out, Steve pushed a large block of cement out of the way, Melody still being covered by Clint. She slowly picked her head up, and that's when she knew he was unconscious. "Oh my god." She whispered as he fell off of her. She began to shake him. HYDRA couldn't take him away too. Being involved with her and her family couldn't be the reason of his death. "Clint." She whispered. Her hand went to his neck, sighing of relief at the feeling of a pulse.

"We have to get out of here." Steve told Melody as he scooped up Natasha. Melody leaned down doing the same to Clint, finding carrying him was quite simple. As they made it out of the hole they were in, they saw different aircrafts flying towards the structure. "We really need to get out of here."

* * *

Clint and Natasha had now woken up and they were in the new car that they had stolen with Steve. Melody was practically shaking with the quarters in her hands as she moved to the pay phone. After everything she had found out, she just had to talk to him, everyone else understanding and willing to make a pit stop. With a shaking hand, after the quarters were in, she put in the number she had memorized since she was twelve.

In the Avengers Tower, Tony stopped working when he heard his phone ring, going to it, his eyebrows furrowing at the number but deciding to answer it anyway. "Hello?"

Melody got the brightest smile on her face, feeling her eyes fill up with happy tears at the sound of his voice. "Hey, Tony."

"Hey, Mel." Tony laughed out. "Where are you calling from?"

"I'm on a mission. I don't have my cell phone right now."

Tony nodded before sitting down on the bench in the workshop. "What's up kid?"

"Um," Melody began rubbing the phone booth slightly as she stood next to it, not really knowing what to tell him at the moment. What would she ever be able to talk about to anyone ever again after all of this? "I just wanted to let you know that Dad made the right decision about putting me in your care." She swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing talking. "You did a wonderful job of raising me. I know it wasn't the easiest and we've had to put up with a lot in the past few years with terrorists and the Avengers Initiative, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'm proud of you, I'm… I'm proud of us."

Tony let what she had just said process for a moment before finding out how to respond. "Are you in trouble, Melody?"

"No." Melody's lie was so smooth, she included a little laugh in there to make her seem light and happy while she was breaking from the inside. "It's just, with what happened to Mom, it got me thinking."

"Yeah." Tony breathed out. "I tried to call you when I found out, but you didn't pick up which is understandable."

"Yeah." Melody spoke while rubbing her head. She couldn't believe all of that had happened in a matter of twenty-four hours. "I've just been dealing with a lot since then."

Tony's face pulled, not liking the breaking sound of her voice one bit. "I'm sorry, Melly." She wanted to break down at the sound of that old pet name. Her eyes shut tight as the tears continued to fall. "You know, I'm proud of you too, right?" Melody leaned her whole body against the booth as she let out a sniffle. "Everything you do, I'm immensely proud of. You're a wonderful daughter."

"And you're a wonderful dad." She didn't want to leave this conversation, but she knew she had to. "Well, I've got to go, but Dad?"

"Yeah?"

Melody paused, hating that this could possibly be the last conversation she ever had with Tony. "I love you."

Tony smiled, finding her random behavior weird, but he was going to cherish it. "I love you, Mel."

With a deep sigh, Melody hung up. She didn't want the last thing she said to him be "bye". She was content with leaving it at "I love you". She had to let him know that. Even if she died, she had to let him know that he was her driving force.

* * *

Sam had just come back from his morning run, immediately going to the fridge and shaking up the orange juice before pouring himself a glass. Just before he could pour the glass, though, there was a knock on his door. But, it was on the back door. He furrowed his eyebrows, but went to the door, pulling up the blinds.

If this had happened a few days ago, he would have been beyond shocked, but he had just befriended Steve so he didn't expect everything to be normal from now on. Captain America, Black Widow, Dark Violet and Hawkeye were all standing at his door. He slid the door open, looking to them all before looking to Steve. "Hey, man."

"I'm sorry about this." Steve apologized quickly. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha spoke helplessly, hoping they could trust him.

He looked to them all before moving aside to let them in. "Not everyone."

Melody walked in first, Clint trailing close behind and then Natasha and Steve. Sam quickly looked outside to make sure no one had followed them before shutting the door and pulling the blinds down. For the first time since this had all happened, Melody felt slightly safe. But only slightly.

 _ **Guys, this chapter was so hard to write and I hope you guys like it! I'm glad to get that secret out in the open now. Remember to review!**_


	6. The Bridge

Melody and Clint showered together. She could feel the stinging in her bruises and cuts as Clint ran his hands down her arm, filling her that that fleeting feeling of safety. In that moment, she didn't have to think. She didn't want to think. It was all too hard. This Winter Soldier had killed her whole family, and it was something she just didn't want to think about. Mostly because she was afraid of what dark thoughts would take hold of her mind.

Clint felt the water running through his hair, washing out all the dirt and ash. Melody kissed his neck as the drops of water landed on them, filling him with comfort. He also didn't want to think. He didn't want to think about what Zola said. It was all too much. Melody was dying. He knew that now, but he didn't know if this right here was going to be their last bit of time together. Just them.

Earlier, Melody felt like all emotions had been violently ripped out of her body and then forcefully shoved back in all at once. Clint was the one thing that hadn't changed. He was the only thing that felt safe to her. The one thing that was never going to change. Her feelings would always remain the same and that's what she felt safest in.

Clint felt useless. It was a common feeling with Clint, but it just kept creeping back to him in the past few days. The one person that never made him feel useless was doing the exact opposite. He had almost gotten her killed. She hated him for days. And now, she was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't come up with some diagnoses and work on a cure for her. He wasn't that smart. It was the way that she kissed his body that reminded him he wasn't as useless as he thought.

They didn't want to get out, but they knew both Steve and Natasha were waiting for a shower. Clint was the one who initiated it, shutting off the water, leaving Melody shivering as the water dripped from her hair. Clint looked to her, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as he stared into those pretty blue eyes. She was crying, but she wasn't sure if Clint could distinguish the difference between the shower drops and the tear drops. He could. "I'm sorry." She muttered.

Clint moved his hand to her face, catching a tear before it even had a chance to fall. "Don't be." Melody shook her head at how loving he looked. She didn't get it. None of it made sense to her.

"I was so rude to you for lying to me and I – "

"I don't care." Clint whispered right back. "I care about getting you better." Melody looked to him incredulously. She didn't deserve him. With her, he was always so trusting and kind. "That's the only thing I care about."

Melody felt her tears pouring down as gasps took over her body. "I love you."

Clint couldn't fight his tears this time, either. "I love you."

The two shared a tearful embrace, scared for what was going to happen to them. Melody could keel over at any possible moment and that's what Clint was scared of most. Melody was scared for Clint's safety with the Winter Soldier. He could kill her all he wanted, but not Clint. Oh, God, not Clint.

* * *

Melody looked through Sam's fridge, pulling out the eggs, bread and milk. "Really, you don't have to do this." Sam laughed out while standing behind her. She was just as stubborn and determined as he had heard.

"It's the least I can do." Melody told him while shutting the fridge and putting her hands on her hips. "Now, where's your spices?"

Sam opened his mouth, about to protest with her again when Clint decided to interject. "Just let her do it. She's going to do what she wants no matter what you say, it's easier to just let it happen."

Melody gave him a bit of a smile as Sam turned back to her. He laughed, finally throwing his hands up like none of it mattered anymore. "Shelf above the stove."

"Thank you." She muttered before turning around and going to the shelf he had instructed.

Sam laughed again while going around the bar to sit with Clint, the pot of coffee now sitting between the two. "She always like this?"

"God yes." Clint practically whispered, almost like he was scared to say it out loud before taking a long drink of coffee. They then both looked to Melody who was reaching for the cinnamon, finding it just out of her reach. They both weren't looking to the cinnamon, though. They were looking at Melody's insanely fit and curvy backside. Clint turned to Sam, about to say something when he noticed where his eyes were. "Hey." Clint spoke while lightly slapping Sam on the arm, bringing him back. "Watch yourself."

"Sorry." He apologized, his eyes going down, Melody turning around just in time to realize what had happened, a tight smile playing at her lips before pulling out two pans.

Clint finally stopped staring at Sam to grab the coffee pot and refill his mug. He got the last bit of coffee before looking down at his mug. Just before taking a sip, though, he told Sam, "You're gonna make me another pot of coffee."

"Right." Sam spoke before standing up instantly and hurrying to the other side of the kitchen. Melody gave Clint a disapproving glance, but couldn't help this smile. Clint simply gave her a wink before taking a big swing of coffee. Melody found herself throwing one of the towels at him.

* * *

They all sat at the bar and table in the kitchen while eating their breakfast. "So, the question is," Natasha spoke while standing up from her plate. "Who at SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

Melody shook her head, hatred flowing through her before pulling her mug to her lips. "Pierce."

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Clint spoke through an eye roll. Clint wanted to jam an arrow in his eye socket. Melody put a hand on his shoulder, massaging him slightly, hoping to calm him a little bit.

"But he's not working alone." Steve stressed, everyone looking back to him. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell." Melody spoke in an almost dazed voice. God, they had to handpick who was SHILED and who was HYDRA and it was probably going to be some people she thought she could trust. Like Sitwell.

Steve looked to her, the realization hitting him too. "So, the real question is, how do the four most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

Sam came back into the kitchen with a file in his hand while walking straight toward Steve. "The answer is, you don't." He dropped the file on the table in front of him, Steve slightly glancing at the file before looking back to Sam.

"What's this?"

Sam gave him a little smirk. "Call it a resume."

The three slowly moved to the file, Natasha being the one to finally pick it up. "Is this Bakhmala?"

"The Khalid Khandil mission," Clint spoke with a nod before looking to Sam. "That was you?"

"You didn't say he was a Pararescue." Melody spoke while looking over to Steve, impressed so far.

Natasha handed the file over to Steve, looking at one of the pictures, remembering back on their talk at the VA. "Is this Riley?"

"Yeah." Sam looked down a little at that, Melody knowing that look all too well. He lost him.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs." Sam nodding in confirmation to what Natasha had said. "What did you use? A stealth chute?"

Sam laughed a little. You couldn't go to three of the best superheroes in the world and without a super suit. "No. These."

When he flipped the page over, everyone's eyes got wide. Steve looked up at him with a smile. "I thought you said you were a pilot."

"I never said pilot." Sam chuckled out.

Steve's face then got serious. "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." His face kept serious through the whole sentence, Steve shrugging, knowing they could use someone else to trust.

"Dude," Clint began, pulling the picture to look at it. "Where can I get one of these?" Melody threw her hand in the air, her stare fixated on no point in particular, knowing no matter what they were all going through, Clint was going to continue to be Clint.

"There's two at Fort Meade." Clint grabbed his jacket quickly before hurrying to the door, Melody just shaking her head at him this time. "Behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." Sam spoke that last part louder so Clint would be able to hear it.

The three Avengers looked to each other, Natasha shrugging like they could do it, Steve looking at Sam to tell him their consensus. "Shouldn't be a problem."

* * *

While stealing the pair of wings, Melody was able to make it out with something she really needed at the moment. A blood lab kit. Melody and Clint were in one of the bathrooms while waiting on Sam to get Sitwell to talk to them. Melody tied a tourniquet to the top of her arm while pulling it with her teeth before slapping her arm. "What?" Clint laughed out. "Are we doing meth?"

"Well, you're too much of a pussy to do this for me." She growled out before inserting the syringe. "And you shoot up heroine."

"How do you know that?" Clint's lip went up in disgust, looking back to her arm before turning around. "Yeah, you're right. I am a pussy."

Melody pulled up the syringe, drawing up enough blood to fill it before pulling it out and immediately putting cotton gauze to the wound. "What are you going to do with that?" Clint asked, turning around once he knew it was safe.

Melody looked to him as she leaned forward, hand still pressed to her wound while pulling out a test tube and switching so her elbow was holding the wound for her. "What else do you do with a blood sample?"

She began to put the blood into a test tube as Clint rolled his eyes. "Obviously you're going to test it, but what for?"

Melody looked at the blood in the tube studying it intensely before swirling it around a little bit, the thick liquid slightly moving. "I have a theory, but I'm going to need Steve's blood too to find out if my theory is correct."

"Well, let's get his blood." Clint spoke enthusiastically before turning to the door of the bathroom.

"Clint," she spoke, stopping him. "Even if this theory comes out right, I have to also come up with an antidote from the base infection which could take years."

"Well, you're going to do it." Clint urged.

Melody shook her head while laughing. "Clint."

"Melody," He spoke urgently, not taking his eyes off of her, while Melody's face got serious too. "I know you're trying to prepare me for the worst, but don't."

"Clint," Melody laughed out again, but her laugh was way more dark. "My dad died from this in a matter of _weeks_."

"You saw the video," Clint spoke excitedly. "You know he would have had more time if it wasn't for the Winter Soldier. You don't know how long you can survive with this. It could be years."

"Clint, you can't fight fate."

Clint moved closer to her, looking her right in the eye. "Yeah, well, fuck fate." Melody blinked, never seeing him this determined before. "You're going to be fine."

Clint pushed the bathroom door open angrily as Melody just stood there, shocked. She really didn't think about how much this would affect Clint. How selfish, Melody thought to herself. Now, she had to find an antidote and cure herself. She was going to do it for Clint. And she was going to get Steve's blood sample.

* * *

Melody threw Jasper Sitwell through the door to get onto the roof, Steve and Natasha following her. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm." She demanded.

Sitwell began to fix his glasses while staggering back from the three. "Never heard of it." He demanded.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve asked, stepping in front of Melody as they backed him into the ledge of the building.

"I was throwing up. I get seasick."

Before he fell off, Steve grabbed him by the collar of the shirt, pulling him close to intimidate him. "Is this little display meant to insinuate you're going to throw me off the roof?" A smile flashed across his face. "Because that's really not your style, Rogers."

"You're right." Steve spoke, letting go of his collar before smoothing out his suit jacket. "It's not." He then stepped back. "It's hers."

Natasha went forward, kicking him in the chest and sending him flying off the building while screaming out desperately. They stood there for a moment until Natasha got an idea. "Oh, wait, what about that girl from accounting?"

"Oh!" Melody exclaimed, agreeing with it. "Laura?" Natasha and Steve both shook their head, knowing it was close, but not right. "Lisa?"

"Lillian." Steve spoke, snapping at the memory of the name.

"Yes!" Natasha and Melody agreed in unison.

"Lip piercing, right?"

"Yeah," Natasha agreed with a smile. "She's cute."

"Yeah." Steve scoffed while shaking his head. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, but that lip piercing. "I'm not ready for that."

That's when Sam and Clint brought Jasper back on the roof while throwing him around a little in the air. If he was seasick before, Melody didn't even want to imagine what he was feeling now. The three then moved to Sitwell while Clint and Sam blocked the door to get to the stairs of the building. "Zola's algorithm is a program!" He screamed out quickly, afraid for what else they were going to do to him. "For choosing Insight's targets."

Melody went rigid at the sound of her creations before stepping forward in demand to know more. "What targets?!"

"You!" He screamed. Melody then turned around to look back at Steve, not sure what that meant. "Tony Stark, a TV anchor in Cairo, the Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA now or in the future."

"The future?" Steve spoke, mulling it over before looking at Sitwell. "How could it know?"

He began to laugh, Melody wanting to punch him in the face. "How could it _not_?" Melody looked to Clint across from her, playing with her necklace in thought. "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it."

Sitwell looked around at all of them, finding they weren't understanding. "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls," he then turned to look directly at Melody, "your damn SAT scores." Melody looked down, wondering if that's what alerted HYDRA to her in the first place or if she always had a target on her back from her family. "Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Melody whispered.

"Oh, my God." Sitwell began to cry out. "Pierce is gonna kill me."

"What then?!" Steve demanded, Sam placing his hand on his shoulder to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list." Melody looked to Steve, panic all over her face. "A few million at a time." They all shared looks of fear, knowing they had to destroy those ships.

* * *

The back seat of the car was cramped. It was Natasha, Clint, Melody and Sitwell, Melody trying to test her and Steve's blood as they drove down the highway. Melody was closest to the left side window while Sitwell was sandwiched in between Natasha and Clint. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell spoke, Melody not even paying attention, she was too busy running through tests and it was a lot harder to do without any advanced medical equipment besides a blood lab kit. It was all the basics. No technology what so ever.

"Yeah," Sam scoffed while looking at him through the rearview mirror. "Then stick a cork in it."

"Insight's launching in sixteen hours." Natasha informed, making everyone have to move over so she could stick her head by Steve, jostling the blood around a little bit. "We're cutting it a little bit close here."

"Natasha, sit down!" Melody yelled like a mom that had been putting up with her troublesome kids all day. With a huff, Natasha did as she said. "We're going to use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly."

"What?!" Sitwell screamed.

Melody couldn't even hear him, though. She was focusing on what was in her hand. She had pulled something out of Steve's blood. She knew what it was…and she had just pulled the exact same thing out of her blood. "Oh my god."

That's when an arm reached through the window Melody was by, knocking the samples out of her hand, the blood flying on both her and the back of the driver's seat of the car as Sitwell was pulled out. "NO!"

Shots then went through the car, Melody, Natasha and Clint having to hurry to the front seat to avoid them. Natasha was on Steve's lap while Clint was on Sam's and Melody sat in the middle console, shifting the gear into park. The man went flying off the car from its stop, his metal hand skidding on the road with his knee up and his other leg straight out to stop him from sliding. Once he was stopped, he flipped his hair back out of his face.

Melody's eyebrows began to furrow. That was the exact move she did the other day. How long had he been watching her? "Go!" Melody suddenly shouted out, making everyone jump as she put the car in drive again. "Run him over!"

Sam did as she said, slamming on the gas, going straight for him, but they were hit in the back of the car, the Winter Soldier jumping up on their car and pulling the steering wheel right out of Sam's hands. "Shit!" Clint cursed since he was closest to it as Natasha began to shoot at him.

The group got about a few feet away from the Humvee, but it slammed into the car again, sending them up the median wall. They weren't going to hang on for much longer so Steve got Natasha and Melody before slamming his shield to the passenger door. "Hang on!" Steve yelled as Melody grabbed onto Clint and Clint grabbed onto Sam.

Melody, Natasha and Steve were on the actual door of the car while Clint and Sam were on top of them. The door broke off as the car flipped in the air. The car door hit the street hard as it skidded, Sam and Clint rolling off the car door, Melody looking back in panic. "Clint!"

Once the door stopped skidding and they stood up, Melody almost took off towards Clint, but the Winter Soldier had a gun, aiming for Steve, Melody and Natasha. Steve got a chance to push Natasha away on his left, but if he would have pushed Melody, she would have fallen off the bridge. So Steve grabbed her by the waist before pushing out his shield, the shot hit and the two went flying.

They slammed through the windshield of a bus, the driver becoming distracted before an eighteen wheeler crashed right into the bus, sending it on its side.

Up on the bridge, Natasha, Clint and Sam each ran for cover, hiding behind different cars, Sam and Natasha shooting their guns and Clint, his arrows from the car wreckage. The group of HYDRA agents just kept coming. Clint shot off an arrow that would have landed in the Winter Soldier's chest, but he just caught it before snapping it. "Shit." Clint muttered before running away from the firing squad.

Natasha used a grappling hook to flip off the bridge, the Winter Solider following her, but Natasha was too quick for him, sending a bullet right into his goggles before running off. With a coldness, the man ripped off his goggles before anger took over his body. He stood straight up, his gun right over the bridge, shooting wildly in hopes to put a bullet in her. She hurried down the street, looking back at him to give him a tiny smirk.

The Winter Soldier was going to play with her, now determined to kill her himself. He didn't even look back at the firing squad when saying, "I have her. Find the blondes."

Without care for his body's wellbeing, he jumped off the bridge, slamming on top of a car before going after her, that swagger returning to his walk.

* * *

Melody slowly pushed herself up, shocked that she was actually still alive. She looked all around, taking in everything that had just happened. She went flying through a bus. She hit a car on the way down. How the hell was she still alive? She wasn't just alive, though, she felt like at worst, she had been punched. She imagined flying through a bus would have the worst possible feel to it; yet, here she was.

There was screaming all around her, Melody knowing she could worry about all of this later. Right now, she had to do her job. She began helping people off the bus along with Steve. When they got the last person off the bus, shots immediately began to go into the vehicle rapidly. Her and Steve weaved through them carefully before busting out the back of the window to Steve's shield. Steve put it up in front of them, but they could still feel the hits pounding against the metal. "What the hell do we do?" Melody practically screamed. Steve had no earthly idea.

* * *

Clint and Sam were the only remaining two on the bridge. Clint moved up to one of the men while Sam went to the other, both of them taking them down before taking their guns and taking out the men who were shooting at Steve and Melody.

Steve and Melody were still behind the shield when Melody thought of something. "Run!"

"What?" Steve yelled over the shots.

"Run!" Melody spoke louder. "The pressure's gonna suck, but that's the only way we're getting out of this."

He did as she said, and she was right. The pressure felt awful as they ran forward, especially with the sound ringing in both of their ears. Right when they got to the man, Steve flipped over, taking the man down with a flip as Melody jumped up on the car and slammed her fist into his throat.

Melody grabbed the man's gun before ducking down. When she looked up, Clint was shooting at the other HYDRA agents. "Clint." She whispered above her.

"Go!" He yelled while waving a hand at her before switching from gun to bow. "We got this!" He called out before hitting one of the men perfectly in the chest.

"Come on." Steve urged her while helping her up.

* * *

The Winter Solider walked down the street, shooting anything that came in his path. That's when he heard Natasha's voice next to a parked car. He armed one of the concealable grenades before rolling it to where he heard her voice. The second it exploded, he was satisfied, but he didn't know that was just a recording and Natasha was coming right for him.

She kicked the gun out of his hand before climbing on his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck and pulling a string around it. His hand came out just in time before she could tighten it, him walking them into the back of a car before flipping Natasha off of his back.

He picked up his gun, aiming it right at her, but she threw a device at his arm, locking it right up. She then sprinted off, leaving the man steaming in his anger. He ripped the thing from his arm before rolling his arm angrily and running after her, shooting her perfectly in the shoulder.

Natasha fell to the ground, automatically putting her hand to the wound as she backed up to lean against a car. The Winter Soldier then jumped up on a car diagonal from her, ready to finish the job, but Melody showed up, ripping the gun from his hands. He turned to punch her with his metal arm, but Melody ducked as Steve pushed his shield into his fist, a sound from the clash echoing through the air.

Melody grabbed his ankle, pulling him down, thinking about her dad. He would probably be alive if it wasn't for this monstrosity. She pulled out her knife, trying to jab him in the chest, but he caught her arm, squeezing her wrist tight. She screamed before slamming her foot into the man's chest.

The man kicked Steve off the car before getting his gun back. Melody grabbed his human arm, stopping him. Their strength was about the same. He then grabbed her by the neck with such strength, Melody immediately began choking. He threw her into a nearby van when Steve got up, but the Winter Soldier shot at him.

Steve hid behind his shield until he ran out of bullets. Steve took this chance to run and distract him from Melody, but the man pulled another gun out of his holster. Melody got up from the van, climbing on top of him as he continued to shoot at Steve. Melody slammed her elbow into his shoulder, distracting him for a moment, trying to shoot her, but the bullet missed her by just a centimeter.

She used his body to throw herself off of him, giving him a moment to pull out another gun. She caught his metal arm, elbowing him in the head, punching him and kicking him in the chest in a fast rhythm. He staggered back just a little bit until Steve caught up with him. He immediately began to shoot, but Steve had his shield.

Steve punched him in the face before trying to send his shield into him. The Winter Soldier caught the shield, punching Steve in the chest before flipping him over, but Steve got up right again. He now had the shield, Steve blocking every one of his blows before he got one in, making Steve stagger back as the Winter Soldier held onto the shield tight.

When Steve got up, him and Melody were side by side, the man trying to throw the shield at them, but they both ducked. The man then pulled out a knife, Melody knowing this was her specialty. She pulled out one of her daggers, her and the Winter Soldier meeting in a clash of metal.

He hit her arm, almost making her drop her dagger and he tried to stab her but she jumped out of the way. Steve jumped at the man, but he simply threw him. This became clear to them all that this battle was between Melody and the Winter Soldier. The knives continued to clash as Melody roundhouse kicked the man in the chest, sending him back into another car.

Steve then ran at him once he dropped his knife, sending his knees into his chest. The man then grabbed Steve by the back of the head before punching him in the face with his human arm. It still hurt as it would with the metal one. Steve got in a good hit, but the man flipped him over and grabbed him by the neck like he had done with Melody.

When the man threw Steve over a few cars, Melody went in to attack him again with her daggers, the Winter Soldier still having his. They kicked and punched at each other, before he threw her into the same van he had thrown the shield into. He then slammed his knife into the van. If Melody wouldn't have moved, it would have gone straight through her skull.

He pushed the knife down the van, trying to get to Melody's head, but she moved with him. Melody pushed herself off of him, but he got in front of her, trying to fall on top of her, but Melody dodged that too. The Winter Soldier slammed into the ground as Melody went to grab Steve's shield.

That's when Steve got up from where he was thrown, watching the two fight. The man went to hit her, but the shield blocked it for her. He then went to stab her, but she used the shield again. He then went under the shield, punching her, making her fall back again. He kicked at her, but Melody blocked it, going under the shield to punch him in the chest. She was sure that hurt her more than it hurt him.

He tried to go at her again, but she jammed the shield into his metal arm, distracting him long enough to slam the shield into his face. That's when she grabbed him by the mask, flipping him over. Steve ran to her side once the man rolled across the street.

Melody looked to the mask that had come off his face before dropping it to the ground. He stood up and Melody ran at him to fight him again with Steve following, but when he turned around, they both stopped dead in their tracks, eyes wide and mouths dropped.

It was like the world had stopped. That couldn't be right. He was dead. It had to be someone that looked just like him. Like how Melody looked just like Maria. But then again, Steve should be dead too. They never recovered a body. They both knew that much. But the more Steve looked at him, the more he was sure, it was him. He had the exact same moles on the exact same spots on his face.

"Bucky?"

When the name came across Steve's lips, there was some sort of recognition there. He moved forward a little bit, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Who the hell is Bucky?"

Melody looked down at that. Her and her grandfather just tried to kill each other. That's when Bucky brought his gun straight up. That's when Sam and Clint flew over with the wings, Clint being the one to knock him down.

When Bucky got up again, he looked to the two instantly. Melody and Steve both twitching with distress. That recognition passed over his face again, causing him to look down, but he had a job to do. He brought his gun up again, but Natasha took care of him this time. She hit the car next to him with an RPG, but once the smoke cleared, Bucky was nowhere to be found.

Melody and Steve just kept looking at where they had last saw him, though. That's when all the HYDRA cars pulled up. Brock Rumlow was leading them, running straight up to Melody and Steve with guns while others went for Natasha, Clint and Sam.

Brock forced them both down on their knees, but they were still left with such shock. "Don't move." Brock commanded them. That's when Rollins moved directly behind Steve with a gun against his head. For a moment, Steve wanted it to happen, but then he thought of Melody right next to him.

That gun against Steve's head was enough to break her out of her trance. "Get the fuck off of him!" She commanded, turning around to push Rollins off.

Rollins immediately then put the gun to Melody's head. "Stop!" Steve yelled, even more distressed than before.

"Do it." Melody commanded, fixing the gun so it was resting perfectly between the eyes and would instantly kill her if he were to pull the trigger.

"Don't!" Steve yelled, trying to stand up, but Brock just kicked him in the gut, sending him down.

"I _want_ you to." Melody dared, her face never being more determined.

"Not here." Brock whispered to him. Rollins cocked back the gun, wanting to show her he would. "Not here!" Brock yelled, pushing his gun away from Melody's head as more news helicopters gathered around.

Rollins moved to cuff her, but she kept her glare with him. As Rumlow was cuffing Steve, all he could do was look down, Bucky's face still all he could think about.

 _ **I'm so happy we finally got to Bucky! Remember to vote for my poll on my blog about a new story! Thanks again for reading and all the reviews I got in the last chapter. You guys are the best! Remember to review!**_


	7. The Return

Melody was placed right by Steve in the van they were being transported in. Natasha was in the middle of Clint and Sam, but everyone felt so betrayed and confused, they didn't know how to communicate it all. "It was him." Steve finally spoke. Melody just continued to look down, trying to process all of this. Her grandfather was used as the Winter Soldier to kill his "widowed" wife and friend. Then his own son. Then the woman his son married. Now who was next? Her and Steve? His best friend and his granddaughter? "He looked right at me." Steve continued, Melody feeling tears poke at her eyes. "And he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible?" Sam interjected. Melody's eyes drifted over to Clint, wanting to rest her head against his shoulder more than anything in the world. "That was like seventy years ago."

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him." Melody turned to Steve, a thought passing through her. If what she pulled out of her blood was what she thought... "Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall."

"That makes sense." Melody whispered almost to herself. Everyone looked to her, Melody looking up, realizing she was going to have to explain this. "By the way, I think I'm a super soldier." She turned back to Steve, him being the only one who's wide eyes weren't fixated on her after that revelation. "But we can figure that out later. Continue."

Steve continued like nothing had interrupted him in the first place. "They must have found him and – "

"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha spoke, her eyes seeming to get heavy from the pain she was having in her shoulder.

Steve then looked away, not taking what she said into any consideration. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Melody continued to look at Steve. She never knew Bucky, neither did her father, but almost from the moment she was born, she was taught to love and worship him. Why? She knew him for a few days and he already seemed poisonous. Sure, she knew that he was being controlled, but there had to be some bit of him in there. Some part of him that knew. She was going to try to save Bucky, but she was going to do it for Steve, no one else. And no one else needed to know that.

Natasha's head fell back from pain, alerting Clint automatically. He couldn't let the one person he had done right by bleed out right here. "We need to get a doctor here." Clint told the one guard nearest to him. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out right here."

The guard brought out it's electrified taser, waving it at Clint to make him feel threatened. Everyone looked to the guard, not sure what it was going to do next. That's when they slammed the taser into the other guard before kicking him in the face, everyone moving their legs so he could fall.

They all then looked back to the first guard as she was taking off her helmet. "Ah." She sighed out, making Melody smile widely. God, she never thought she would be so happy to see Maria Hill in her life. "That thing was squeezing my brain."

Everyone kind of just looked at each other, not sure what to do. They were all possessed by shock. That's when Maria looked to the opposite end of Natasha before looking over to Steve and Melody. "Who's this guy?"

* * *

They got out of the car at an out of work dam, Steve being very careful not to hurt Natasha any more while helping her out. When Clint and Melody came out, Clint made sure to hold Melody very close to him with his arm around her shoulders tight. The two looked around, not sure what to do anymore. So much had changed in these past few days; how could they even trust Hill right now?

They walked through the workings of the dam, finding it incredibly silent. Even for a secret facility of remaining SHIELD agents. A man came running towards them, Melody suddenly tensing up. She felt like she was going through New York all over again. The same anxiety symptoms came rushing back. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint, maybe two." Maria informed.

"Let me take her." The man responded while hurrying to catch up with them.

"She'll want to see them first." All of their heads snapped to Agent Hill, not sure at all what she was talking about.

Maria led them into a room that had a lot of outdated medical machines covered by a falling, clear shower curtain. In the two beds were Nick Fury and Emily Carter hooked up to the old machines with Rhodey standing by Emily's side. Melody didn't know if she was filled with sudden relief or rage. "Well," Fury spoke in a raspy voice as he began to sit up with a grunt. "It's about damn time."

Melody decided to forget the rage for a moment. She was devastated about her mother's death and now she was here. Her anger could wait. She wanted to be her mother's daughter again. "Mom!"

Melody wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, giving her the tightest hug Emily could bare while tears fell down her face. That's when she remembered Rhodey behind her. She broke away from the hug to push him back. "It wouldn't have killed any of you to pick up a phone!"

The doctor came out and began working on Natasha as everyone else stood around – Clint going right back to Melody – to hear what happened since Emily and Nick "died". "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum," Nick began listing off what was wrong with him.

"Shattered collarbone," Emily jumped in with her injuries. "Perforated liver, and one bloody headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lungs." The doctor spoke while continuing with the pressure on Natasha's wound.

"Yeah." Nick scoffed sarcastically. "Let's not forget Emily and my matching collapsed lungs. Other than that, we're fine."

"They cut you two open!" Natasha yelled at the two.

"Your hearts stopped!" Melody added, looking over to Rhodey who was still close by Melody. "And you cried!"

"I was brought in on this _after_ the faked deaths. Don't put this on me."

"Tetrodotoxin B." Emily spoke, answering both Melody and Natasha's questions. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute."

"Banner developed it for stress." Fury spoke it like he was just giving them quick trivia, not like he and Emily just betrayed their trust. "Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy?" Clint finally asked, making sure they knew he was accusing them. "Why not just tell us?"

"Any attempt on the Director and Supervisor's lives had to look successful."

Clint shook his head, not sure any of them were getting what they put everyone in this room through. "Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury spoke up as Emily just looked up at her daughter, giving her an apologetic smile. "Besides, we weren't sure who to trust." That kind of struck a nerve with Melody. She was sure they didn't mean it this way, but they were basically saying that Emily couldn't trust Melody. She had some doubt in her mind that her daughter was a traitor. And that hurt her more than anything.

* * *

In an abandoned bank somewhere, Bucky laid in his seat while people worked on the damage brought to his metal arm from Melody slamming the shield into it. While sitting there, his thoughts began to wonder. He thought back on his earliest memory, falling. Falling through the air in the tundra as the man on the bridge reached out for him. And he remembered something while falling. It was the girl who had done this to him. She had her hair pinned up in this memory with red lipstick on and she was looking up at him, her eyes filled with so much love. It wasn't that long flowing hair with barely any make up on and that murderous look he saw while they were fighting. But in his memories, they both called him Bucky.

He then thought what it was like when he was watching doctors saw what was left of his arm off, and then waking up to a new metal arm. He then remembered getting put on ice over and over again.

Bucky had an almost panic attack, punching the doctors that were working on him. He thought they would hurt him. Like that pain he felt when they were sawing off his arm. Men put guns up in his direction, but Bucky just continued to think of the two on the bridge. He couldn't stop it. No matter how hard he tried.

Alexander Pierce walked through the bank, his only thought on reaching the Winter Soldier. "Sir," one of the doctors tried as Rumlow and Rollins followed close behind Mr. Pierce. "He's unstable and erratic."

They just kept walking, though, not paying any attention to their wishes, only thinking about what they could do next with the Winter Soldier. They shut the door after him as Pierce walked right up to his weapon. "Mission report." He commanded, but Bucky continued to sit there, his thoughts still possessed by the two blondes. "Mission report. Now." Silence. He was still lost in thought. Pierce went forward a few steps, looking to him, but Bucky wouldn't look back.

That's when he slapped him across the face, some sort of sense popping back into Bucky's mind. He looked back to Pierce, finally able to put his thoughts into words. "The two blondes on the bridge, the man and the woman…" he trailed off for a moment, not sure which question to ask first. "Who were they?"

Pierce studied him for a moment, coming up with a lie on the top of his head. "You met them both this week on an earlier assignment." Well, it wasn't a total lie.

Bucky looked down at the information, processing his memory to find out which mission. That wasn't where his memories of the two lied. When he thought really hard on their faces, he could see a smaller version of the man getting beat up and the laughing smiling face of the woman as he pulled her close after spinning her out of his arms in a dance. "I knew them." He whispered, looking back up at Pierce as he sat down in front of him.

"Your work has been a gift to mankind." Alexander told him, Bucky just looked to him, knowing he was about to send him on another mission. "You shaped the century." But Bucky didn't know how much of a bad guy he was. "And I need you to do it one more time." Bucky looked away from him. He hated these missions. He couldn't let anyone know that, but it was true. Especially if the two blondes were going to be there. "Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos. And tomorrow morning, we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine." Bucky looked back to him, afraid he was able to see the distaste in his eyes. "And HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

Bucky couldn't fight this. He didn't want to do this mission. Not because he hated it, but because he didn't want to be forced to hurt the two blondes. If he hurt him, he didn't know what he would do with himself. No one in there seemed to get that. They needed someone else to do it instead of him. _Anyone_ else. "But I knew him."

He gritted his teeth before standing up and turning away from Bucky. "Prep him." Bucky got a terrified look on his face. This was worse than the missions.

"He's been out of cryo freeze too long." One of the doctors told him, shocked that he would give him the order. Usually he was so careful with preserving him for as long as he could.

"Then wipe him and start over."

Bucky looked so helpless as Pierce began to walk away from him and the doctors moved to restrain him. Bucky knew all the movements, performing them before they could tell him. He wiped all emotion from his face, wanting to just get this all over with. He wouldn't have any more emotions once they were done with him anyway. With the electrotherapy, you could hear his screaming throughout the whole building.

* * *

The group had files all around them, Nick looking at a picture of his old "friend" Alexander Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." Everyone was looking to him as he threw the picture down. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."

Melody rolled her eyes before looking back down at her file. It was detailing the death of James Steven Barnes. She began to rub the corners of the file, taking a deep breath with the action, remembering what it was like when her father was alive. Before he was ripped away from her by her brain washed grandfather. "We have to stop the launch." Natasha spoke, making Melody pick her head up. She was right. They had to.

"I don't think the Council is accepting our calls anymore." Emily spoke before opening up a brief case that the doctor had just brought up.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

Maria turned her laptop around for everyone to see. "Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized."

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Emily spoke through a big gulp of coffee.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational," Maria paused before voicing the worst scenario "a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA." Nick spoke in clarification. "We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left – "

"We're not salvaging anything." Steve spoke suddenly, Melody looking up from her file to look at him. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD."

"SHIELD had nothing to do with this." Emily spoke through a laugh.

"You gave us this mission." Melody spoke before looking back at Steve before facing her mother. "This is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised. You two said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."

Clint looked to his old mentors before rubbing his chin, seeing Melody's side a lot more than ever before when it came down to this. "How many paid the price before you did?" Clint muttered before making eye contact with the two. Melody turned around to look at him, giving him a slight smile before lipping: thank you.

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes," Fury took a deep pause "or your father, Melody."

Melody leaned forward, a thought coming through her head. "Even if you had, would either of you have told us? Or would you have compartmentalized that, too?" They both stayed silent for a moment, Melody knowing she was right.

Steve took a deep sigh before talking again, knowing this was going to be hard. "SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."

"They're right." Maria spoke, giving the two an encouraging nod. This was going to be hard for all of them, but they had to do what they had to do to protect the world.

Fury and Carter then looked over to Natasha. She wasn't going to back down either. They then looked over to Sam, knowing he wasn't in the SHIELD world, but maybe he would have some kind of opinion. "Don't look at me." Sam spoke with a shrug. "I do what he does, just slower."

They both looked back to the two, Emily getting a small smile on her face. She had never been more proud of her daughter. She was so independent, and she was making all the right choices. She was being an actual leader. That's all she had ever wanted for her. To find something she excelled in. "Well...It looks like you two are giving the orders now."

* * *

 _Steve and Maria were going up to their now empty apartment, Bucky following close behind, wanting to talk to the two, but neither of them were really saying anything. "We looked for you, after." Bucky finally tried again. "My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery."_

 _Maria looked over to her small big brother, knowing he would know what to say when she didn't. "I know, I'm sorry."_

" _We just kind of wanted to be alone." Maria finally spoke. Bucky gave her a slight smile, loving the sound of her voice which he felt like he hadn't heard in forever._

" _How was it?" Bucky kicked himself for not coming up with anything better._

" _It was okay. She's next to Dad."_

 _When they finally made it to the door of their apartment, Bucky decided to do what he was really here to do. "I was gonna ask..."_

 _Maria turned around to look at him. "I know what you're gonna say, Buck."_

 _Bucky sighed, knowing she would always know what was going on in his head like he would with hers. "I just...We can put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids. It'll be fun. All you got to do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash. Maria, you can cook."_

 _While he was talking, both Steve and Maria were trying to find the keys to get in the apartment. Bucky smiled a little bit before turning to the brick he knew the spare key was under. "Come on."_

 _Maria took the key from him, looking at it, rubbing it with her thumbs slightly, thinking about her and her brother turning into orphans. "Thank you, Buck," Steve finally interjected. "But we can get by on our own." After he said that, Maria looked to Bucky, not sure if that's what she wanted._

" _The thing is," Bucky put his hand on Steve's shoulder as he put his arm around Maria's waist, pulling her towards him. She looked up at him like he was the best thing she had ever seen in this life. "You don't have to." He gave Steve's shoulder a little squeeze, Maria looking back to her brother with a bit of a smile, knowing this was going to be a good idea. It could really help them, and it also helped that Maria had a crush on Bucky for as long as she could remember. "I'm with you to 'till the end of the line, pal."_

* * *

Steve was looking off into the distance, remembering the Bucky he knew before the Winter Soldier took over when he saw Melody hurry towards the edge of the dam, gripping the railing while letting out deep breaths. They hadn't been given enough time to react and she assumed that's what it had led to. Her time in the shower with Clint was her only reaction time since this started. Now that she knew her grandfather had been used as a HYDRA slave and her adoptive grandfather and biological grandmother were killed by him along with her father, she couldn't take any of it. She was doing her hardest to stay together, but it was ripping her from the backbone she thought she had established. Nothing would ever be the same.

Steve moved towards her cautiously. He hadn't had time to talk to her alone, and he was worried. They hadn't even discussed this whole super soldier thing or the fact that they were kind of leading what was left of SHIELD. "Hey." He spoke once he got close enough to her that she wouldn't freak out from his voice.

"Leave me alone." Melody demanded as her grip tightened.

"No." He told her simply. She turned to look at him with wide eyes before looking back down, taking in the breaths as they came, trying to calm herself down. "Only because I know exactly what's going through your head right now." She shook her head and turned away from him. Steve was only reminded of when Bucky fell right in front of him, and only Peggy had come to talk to him after. He knew _everything_ that was going through her head because every thought she was having was once his own. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared for her.

Melody, though, didn't believe that anyone could know what she was possibly feeling. She shook her head at him with a sigh, finding the panic attack blossom in her. "You know what it's like to find out your entire family has either been killed or manipulated by HYDRA?"

"No," Melody scoffed, desperately wanting to be left alone so she could panic in peace. Wow, how ironic. "But I have watched my best friend fall to his death and hear my sister's cries as I fell into the ice and woke up in an unfamiliar world." Melody just looked back down at the cold stone below her. "Now sounds like a pretty good time to jump, doesn't it?" She turned to him with wild eyes, surprised he knew that. "I told you." He whispered, the two sharing a scared moment.

"I wouldn't ever do it." She told him before looking back down.

"I know." He whispered while leaning forward to be right next to her. "But you thought about it."

"Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me?" Steve looked to her, knowing he hadn't heard her voice this shaky before, but at least her panicked breaths had calmed down. "How many more times am I going to lose someone I love because of who I am? Because of who my parents are? Because – "

"Because you're related to me." He finished in a sad voice.

She looked to him, her eyes growing sadder. "I was not going to say that."

"You should have." Steve shrugged like it was all his fault and he knew it, making her worry less about herself and more about him.

"I don't blame you." She insisted as her grip on the railing let go, and she put her hands on his shoulders. "What happened was not your fault."

Steve looked away from her, staring off with his hands still in his pockets. "Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I didn't take the serum."

Melody shook her head right back. "Germany would have won the war and we would all be screwed."

He shook his head with a dark laugh. Melody was suddenly becoming worried. This must have been how Steve felt not too long ago. "I don't think I made that much of a difference." His face went right back to wonderment. "Maria and Bucky would be happy, probably still alive."

"But then Tony wouldn't be born. Your nephew." She jumped in. "And I wouldn't know you." She grabbed his face, making him look right at her. "There's no use to sit around and think about what life could have been. There's no way to change the past. We can only fix the problems the past has caused and we are going to fix a huge problem made in the past. HYDRA. We are going to take them down, no matter what the cost." Steve could only stare at her, finding it amazing how much she could inspire him. "It's not gonna be totally dissembled today, but we're going to shove a huge bullet in their plan and take away a huge portion of them."

Steve looked at her, coming out to comfort her, but ending up being comforted and inspired by her. He also felt a sort of sadness, though. He was only reminded of his little sister. "I'm scared." He whispered, reminded of his talk with Maria before her wedding when she had said the exact same thing he just said to her.

"You don't have to be." Steve's heart began to twist, knowing what she was going to say next. "Because you're always going to have me."

He stroked her cheek, realizing she didn't remind him of Maria at all. It was someone different entirely. She reminded him of himself. "Your dad would be proud."

She leaned into his palm, feeling nothing but comfort in his touch. She shut her eyes and all Steve could do was smile at her. Not only would her dad be proud of her, but Steve was proud of her. He would always be proud of her.

"I love you." She breathed out as her eyes opened, causing Steve's smile to grow.

"I love you."

 _ **Please, please review! This chapter was kind of a filler, but the action will return in the next chapter when they begin to take down HYDRA! Thanks for the votes on the poll, but I would like to get some more opinions in there, make sure to continue voting. Thanks for all of the reviews so far and remember to continue them!**_


	8. The Battle Above The Potomac River

Melody's head rested in Clint's lap as she let out light snores and he began to pet her head. He was lost in the blonde loops, running his hand from the top of the strand all the way to the bottom before picking up another. Steve watched him as he sat across from him on the uncomfortable bunker floor, smiling a little at just how peaceful she looked. She needed a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, they were stepping into the middle of a war. "You should get some sleep too." Steve whispered to Clint, doing his best to not wake Melody.

"I'll be fine with a strong pot of coffee in the morning." Clint muttered, but tiredness was in his whole voice. He didn't look away from Melody as he spoke. He just couldn't. She was dying. She didn't look it, but she was. These were just the beginning stages. He remembered the stories from Melody of how bad her father got. The thought of watching the strongest woman he knew wither away almost brought tears to his eyes.

"We're gonna cure her." Steve insured while nodding towards his niece, the same thing that was going through Clint's mind, going through Steve. "HYDRA has to have some sort of cure, and if not, we can develop it."

Clint smiled a little bit at the thought of him helping her find a cure. Yeah, Melody would let him help in _her_ lab. She would most likely be slapping his hand whenever he touched something. His face then got serious, beginning to stroke the strand closest to her temple. "So much has gone wrong with her life." He shook his head before picking it back up to look at Steve. "I just want her to be happy." Steve then turned his head to the side. "And she has to be normal."

Steve looked at him for a moment before laughing, trying to contain his laughter not to wake any of the other sleeping bodies lying around them. "She already is happy. She has you."

Clint looked up at him with a confused face. "But she wants to be normal. That's all she's ever wanted."

Steve began to chuckle again, this one not as intense as the last one. "Sure, having a normal life would make anyone happy, but you know what?" Clint shook his head. "Normal is overrated, and I'm pretty sure she's figured that out by now." Clint laughed along with him that time. " _You_ make her the happiest."

Clint looked down at her again, a smile growing on his face as he put himself in her shoes. He could have all the things in the world that would make him happy, but if he didn't have Melody, none of it would matter. She made him the happiest too.

* * *

Everyone was getting all of their things together the next morning for their fight against HYDRA. As everyone got ready, Melody cautiously walked up to Steve who was kind of just standing there. "You know," Melody kind of chuckled out. "If we're gonna fight a war, you need a uniform."

Steve began to chuckle, thinking about his talk with Sam earlier that morning. She did remind him of himself. They were using the same lines now. "Funny because that's exactly what I told Sam earlier."

"Well, I need a uniform too." Her face was almost pleading, and in that moment, Steve would do anything to get her what she wanted. "And I think I have a good idea of where to find some." Steve turned his head to the side, not sure what she was talking about, but she simply reached her hand out for Steve to take it. "Come with me."

Steve took her hand cautiously as she led him away. "Is it illegal?"

Melody stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer that question. Should she lie or tell the truth? Truth. "Extremely."

* * *

The group began their walk towards the Triskelion building. Rhodey was flying the helicopter Fury was in, waiting for their signal. Natasha was already inside the building. That just left Sam, Emily, Maria, Clint, Melody and Steve.

Maria and Emily were wearing their SHIELD uniforms, Clint and Sam their wings, but Melody and Steve were both in something a little more…old fashioned. Steve was in his old uniform from the forties which was in the Smithsonian. Melody, she was wearing Bucky's old uniform. Steve was so proud.

They made it to the top of the hill, looking at the building they were about to infiltrate. It was probably one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the world, but with this skill set, they knew they could do it. They all shared a nod before continuing with the walk.

Inside the building, they had established a control room for the new helicarriers to monitor them and fix any problem from the ground. In all their headsets, there was a piercing sound, making them all take them off. "What the hell was that?" One of the men whispered.

"I'll check it out." One of the men said as he got up. When he opened the door the room, though, he was greeted with Sam, Melody, Maria, and Emily holding up their guns, Steve holding up his shield and Clint pulling the string back on his bow. Without hesitation, the man threw his hands up in surrender before letting them all come in, Melody making sure to run her shoulder into the man. As they stepped in, everyone in the room got panicked and quiet.

Steve moved to the intercom that would broadcast throughout the entire building, taking a deep breath before starting. "Attention all SHIELD agents, this is Steve Rogers." It was like the whole building had went silent at the sound of his voice. Everyone stopped what they were doing and just listened. "You've heard a lot about me the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down." Sharon was in one of the computer labs, panicked at the sound of his voice. "And I think it's time you know the truth."

Steve took a pause before going on with the next part, knowing this would destroy a lot of lives and beliefs, but they had to know. Melody gave him a little nod of encouragement before he turned back to the microphone. "SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA." You could almost hear the gasps through the building. "Alexander Pierce is their leader." Everyone in the World Council turned to look at him, finding it hard to believe that one of their own could do this. He just shrugged at them. Like it was no big deal. Like he could just brush it off. And that pissed Natasha off.

Melody then moved up to the microphone, taking it with shaking hands. "The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well." Everyone turned, knowing that voice. Melody Barnes/Dark Violet. "I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you." Everyone began to look around at the people they were standing by. Colleagues, friends, people they thought they could trust no matter what. In one moment, all their trust was going right through the window. "They almost have what they want. Absolute control." Melody looked down at that. They had absolute control of her grandfather. "They shot Nick Fury and my mother." Everyone had some look of shock on their face at that news. "And it won't end there."

Melody looked back at Steve, him giving her an encouraging nod to continue like she had done for him. "If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them." Melody took a deep breath. "And I know what you're all going through. You feel this sudden sense of betrayal. I know…because I helped developed Insight thinking I was doing this for the better good." Melody then turned to look at Clint, giving him a small smile. "But someone helped me realize that a protective front isn't always a good one."

Melody then stepped back, giving Steve the microphone again. He took a pause, looking down, thinking about all the lives that were going to be lost today. "I know we're asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high. It always has been." He looked up, knowing that these people needed some inspiration like the kind Melody gave him. "It's a price I'm willing to pay." He nodded his head, knowing he got what he needed to get out there. "And if I'm the only one, then so be it." They all looked to him. Clint, Melody, Sam, Maria and Emily. And they knew they could tell him in that moment that he was not going to be the only one. "But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

Steve ended the transmission with that, everyone silent for a moment before Sam stepped forward, looking between Steve and Melody. "Did you two write that down first or was it off the top of your heads?"

Melody gave him a little smile before leaning forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You'll never know."

* * *

Everyone in the World Council had now turned to look Alexander Pierce in the eye. "You smug son of a bitch." The older man muttered while shaking his head, ashamed that they had elected him.

STRIKE Team then piled into the room, minus Brock Rumlow, confusing everyone in the room at how cool and casual they were being when they just found out this man was running HYDRA. "Arrest him." One of the councilmen said obviously, but Rollins just brought a gun to his head.

Pierce looked so proud of himself while giving the group a cocky shrug. "I guess I've got the floor."

* * *

Everyone in the computer lab felt numb after Steve and Melody's message. They all kind of just sat or stood there, running the speech through their brains again. All they could do was look at each other. Statistics showed that at the very least, there was one HYDRA agent in here. That's when the HYDRA guard dog came in. Brock Rumlow. Everyone was frightened, knowing STRIKE was HYDRA and Brock was the _leader_ of STRIKE. How bad was he really?

Brock walked up to one agent, small and curly haired and in charge of getting the helicarriers in the air. Brock stood right behind him, Klein quivering from his stature. "Preempt the launch sequence. Send those ships up now." Klein continued to sit there, looking down at his keyboard. He was terrified. This man would kill him without breaking a sweat, but he couldn't just send those ships in the air. They would kill millions. He turned around to look at him, Brock giving him an obvious nod. Klein then turned to look at all his colleagues, begging him not to with their eyes. "Is there a problem?" Brock's voice boomed across the whole room, making Klein jump.

"Sorry, sir." Klein spoke, knowing he needed an answer…and Klein was going to do the right thing here. "I'm not gonna launch those ships. Captain's orders."

Everyone stood still for a moment, not sure what was going to happen next. Until Brock pulled out his gun, pointing it straight to Klein's head. "Move away from your station." Brock commanded, but Sharon was right there, aiming her gun right for Brock.

"Like he said," With that, everyone began to pull out their guns, SHIELD aiming and HYDRA and HYDRA aiming at SHIELD, proving once and for all who was who. And it hurt. "Captain's orders."

Brock gritted his teeth before pushing the gun right up to Klein's head. "You picked the wrong side, agent." That was more directed to Sharon.

"Depends on where you're standing." She growled out. Another silence passed, waiting to see who would shoot first.

It was a standoff until Brock dropped the gun from Klein's head before eventually dropping it to the ground. Everyone seemed to relax just a little bit until Brock pulled out his knife, slashing Sharon's arm so she would drop her gun and he could grab his. That's when the room erupted into chaos. Everyone was shooting at each other, Brock pushing Klein out of the way before entering his override code and hurrying out of the room as the fire fight continued.

* * *

All three helicarriers began to rise out of the garage. Maria and Emily had taken control of the control room, able to alert the others about the status of the ships. Once the ships burst out, Emily pushed her ear piece even further into her ear, scared for what was going to happen to all the people she loved rushing into battle. "They're initiating launch."

The four of them began to run into battle, all decked out in their uniforms and ready to do what was right. "Okay," Melody spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Clint, you're with Sam. Steve, you're with me. The main goal here is to stop those aircrafts and save literally millions of lives. No matter what, do not stray from the mission." Melody cut a look at Clint. "No matter what."

Clint gave her an eye roll as he continued to run, knowing she was right, but how could he abandon her if something were to happen? "Fine." He muttered in anger.

"Hey, Cap," Sam asked. "How do we know the good guys from the bad guys?"

Melody wanted to roll her eyes at his question, but she wasn't going to. Sam helped them out in so many ways. The least she owed him was respect. "If they're shooting at you, they're bad." Steve told him obviously before they split up into pairs, Sam and Clint activating their wings and flying off while Steve and Melody just jumped.

They both landed hard, but rolled so there wouldn't be much damage to their bodies. Melody wanted to laugh as they continued to run off. A few days ago, she would have thought she would never survive that. There was a lot more things she knew she could do, and she was ready to test them out. "It's fun being a super soldier, huh?" Steve spoke jokingly.

"Bet I could outrun you." She challenged before picking up the speed, but HYDRA agents began to shoot. Steve grabbed her, pulling her behind his shield as they ran off for cover. "Alright," Melody spoke with a shrug. "Rain check on the race."

They began to fight off the men, Steve throwing a grenade in the men's direction while Melody took one on in hand to hand combat. She ended up kicking him into one of the steel storage containers, knocking him out instantly.

As Clint and Sam flew to get to one of the helicarriers, they began getting shot at by a machine gun. They both dodged all the bullets they could, sending them in a sporadic flight pattern. "Hey, Cap." Sam called through their channel. "I found those bad guys you were talking about."

That scared Melody. "Are you both okay?" She asked, wanting to hear Clint's voice more than Sam's in that moment.

"Not dead yet."

Melody sighed, grateful for Clint's voice, but hating his words. "Don't say things like that."

"You're the one who said to," he coughed, getting ready for the best Melody impersonation he could come up with, "'do not stray from the mission, no matter what' I'm just trying to follow your orders, babe."

"God, I hate you." Melody mumbled before her and Steve took off again.

* * *

In the meeting room, Alexander Pierce was looking out the window, thinking about all his hard work on HYDRA being destroyed. He slowly paced, looking back to the Council. "Let me ask you a question," he began, everyone in the room not wanted to hear anymore from that lying mouth. "What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow," he looked to the councilman he was talking to, a bit of a smirk on his face. "And you knew they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution." He handed the man a drink, him slowly taking it, not sure if he trusted him enough to drink it. "And you could just stop it with the flick of a switch." The way the councilman was looking at him wasn't one of disgust, but of pity. "Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you all?"

The councilman slowly shook his head, that sad look returning to his face. "Not if it was your switch." He threw the drink he gave him to the side, Rollins, giving Pierce a gun to finish the councilman off.

That's when Natasha kicked him out of the way, going for the gun, punching Pierce in the face and throwing one of the shocking discs at one of the HYDRA agents. She then threw the gun into Rollins throat, sending him to the ground before elbowing one man in the head and kneeing him in the gut before flipping him over. Rollins then tried to get up, but she grabbed him, sending his head into a table before flipping him over and taking his gun.

She then stood face to face with Alexander Pierce, a cocky smile growing on her face before moving to the morphing mask she had on, disguising herself as the councilwoman. "Oh, I'm sorry." She pulled the mask off her face and then the wig, her smirk never unchanging. "Did I step on your moment?"

* * *

The helicarriers finally reached three thousand feet, panicking everyone on SHEILD's side. "Falcon?" Maria asked. "Hawkeye? What's your status?"

"Engaging." Sam reported, the two still dodging bullets left and right.

They finally got on one of the helicarriers, taking a moment to be proud of themselves. "Alright," Clint spoke in a sigh. "We're in." That's when an aircraft came right for them. "You've gotta be _kidding_ me?!"

They both took off, finding the other aircraft's wings on the helicarrier great cover for a little while. They got off the ship, leading the aircraft on a goose chase.

Melody happened to look up when she saw them doing loops around the aircraft. She punched one of the men in the chest before slamming her fist into his throat, eyes still locked on what was happening in the air. "Babe," she started as she began to fight off another HYDRA agent. "What are you doing?"

"Oh," Clint responded as Steve threw his shield at one of the men. "Nothing. Stalling. What are you doing?"

"Eight minutes, guys." Emily reported.

Melody sighed, surveying it all. She made these things. She could shut them down. "Working on it." She reported to her mother before nodding to Steve for him to follow her. "Come on." With all the immediate HYDRA threats gone, they slipped through one of the doors, getting them inside the first helicarrier.

* * *

Natasha went away on the keyboard in the meeting room, confusing everyone else by Pierce. "What are you doing?"

"Disabling security protocol." Alexander Pierce spoke for her, a bit of a smirk on his face. "And dumping all the secrets on the internet."

"Including HYDRA's." She sang out.

"And SHIELD's." He jumped in, that smirk still on his face, but Natasha just kept working like no one was there. "If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"

That stopped Natasha, but not for the reason he thought it did. She looked up at him, mimicking his smirk, knowing she could do one better. "Are you?"

* * *

Steve hurried to the control station while Melody stayed back to keep watch in case anyone saw them slip in. He quickly switched out the targeting blades before turning around to Melody giving her a nod. "Alpha locked." Steve reported before the two rushed out of the helicarrier.

Maria and Emily shared a small smile at the first one being locked before getting back to business. "Falcon, Hawkeye, where are you now?"

"Had to take a detour." Sam almost shouted at Maria. She would forgive him for that. They were under a lot of pressure. But not next time.

A shower of missiles got sent to the two, finding it even harder to dodge them. They weaved out of the way just in time for each missile to hit the helicarrier instead of them. Finally, they tricked the pilot, moving just in time for the aircraft itself to run into the helicarrier.

"Woo!" Sam cheered, giving Clint a high five as they continued to fly through the air and into the control station.

"We're in." Clint reported as Sam switched out the blades.

"Bravo locked." Sam reported before to two flew out again.

"Two down, one to go." Emily spoke with a bit of excitement at the fact that they were so close, but she wasn't going to get too excited yet. Not until they were all locked and everyone was safe.

* * *

A group of pilots made it out on the plane pad, walking confidently. "We are the only air support Captain Rogers has got." The captain reported to the men.

A shot ran through, taking down one aircraft, everyone on the pad panicking. Once the fire cleared, they could make out a man with a metal arm. The Winter Soldier. He continued his walk, blowing up another aircraft, men flying from the explosion. Then, as men were piling into a jet, he sent a grenade in it before the door closed.

He was going on a rampage, ready to perform his mission of taking down Captain America and Dark Violet. He kicked a man into an aircraft, sending it into an explosion before climbing on top of a jet and shooting the man in it. He threw out his body and the now damaged windshield before getting inside it and flying off.

* * *

As Natasha finished, it asked for an access code, Pierce thinking he finally had the upper hand. "Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes two Alpha Level members."

"Don't worry. Company's coming." Natasha gave him a smile before looking to the nearby window where a helicopter landed, and out came Rhodey in his War Machine suit and Nick in his signature long leather jacket.

Alexander looked at him for a moment, starting to fear for the first time that his plan wasn't going to work. He wasn't going to let any of them know that, though. "Did you get my flowers?" Nick just continued to glare at him as Rhodey stood in the background, picking his mask up so he could glare at him too. This was the man who tried to kill his girlfriend and he wanted him dead. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."

"Really?" Nick spoke sarcastically with a huff. "Because I thought you had me and Emily killed."

"You know how the game works." Rhodey clenched his fists at how casual he was about murdering Emily.

Fury stepped even closer, getting right in his face. "So why make me head of SHIELD?"

"Because you were the best, and the most ruthless person I ever met. I did what I did to protect people. Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder. War. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMF fries Chicago." Nick knew he was just trying to get him to see his side, but it wouldn't work. He would _never_ trade SHIELD for HYDRA. "Diplomacy? A holding action, Nick. A band-aid. And you know where I learned that. Bogota. Emily has just been holding you back." Nick shook his head. He must have been trying to recruit him for HYDRA ever since that day. "You didn't ask. You just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick. If you have the courage to take it."

Nick was quiet for a moment, everyone scared to see if he was actually buying into this, but Nick just shook his head at the man. "No. I have the courage not to."

Nick grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the screen. "Retinal scanner active." The computer reported.

"You don't think we've wiped your clearance from the system?" Alexander spoke cockily.

"I know you erased my password." Nick spoke with a shrug. "Probably deleted my retinal scan." Nick then moved even closer to him. "But if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary," That's when he picked up his eyepatch revealing his scarred eye. "You need to keep both eyes open."

They both moved to the screen together, it scanning both of their eyes before reporting, "Alpha level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed."

* * *

Emily was working on monitoring the helicarriers while Maria had moved to a more protection job. "Charlie Carrier is forty-five degrees off the port bow." Emily reported. That's when Maria saw HYDRA agents moving towards the control room.

Maria looked to her superior, noticing she was too locked in on the helicarriers to pay attention to what was happening outside. She rolled back in her chair, waiting for them to try to come in through the door. Once they tried, they were shot down. Emily did a jump at the sound of the bullets, not expecting as Maria rolled back to computers. Emily just continued to look at her, but Maria was still in her work mode. "Six minutes."

* * *

Steve and Melody were still shooting at the HYDRA agents, but it was kind of becoming too much, and they still needed to get to the Charlie Carrier. "Hey, Sam, Clint," Steve began as they switched to just running away. They were about to do something risky and Melody was terrified. "We're gonna need some rides."

"Roger." Sam reported.

"Let us know when you're ready."

Melody got the edge of the helicarrier, pausing and looking down at what was below her. She'd be dead. Even as a super soldier, she would be dead. "No." She protested while shaking her head. "I won't."

"Too bad you don't have a choice." Steve spoke as he moved to her sides.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a panicked voice as he began to lift her in the air. "No! Steve, don't!" He threw her off the helicarrier, her scream following as Steve jumped after her.

"We just did!"

Melody tried to straighten out her body in case she landed in the river. "Steve, if we survive this, you're so dead!" She screamed through the radio transmission.

That's when Sam went to Steve, pulling him up by the arm, Clint doing the same for Melody. "I've got you, cry baby." Clint told her as he flew straight up.

"I almost fell to my death! I don't want to hear it!"

When they got to the helicarrier, Clint placed her down lightly before touching his feet to the ground, the two ending up in a one arm embrace. "What happened to Super Soldier Melody?"

"Super Soldier Melody is going to kick your ass, I swear."

Clint opened his mouth with a smile, about to say something else when Bucky came out of nowhere, knocking Steve down, off the helicarrier. "Steve!" Melody yelled out.

Clint turned around, his gun ready, about to shoot him, but Bucky grabbed his arm. Clint struggled and Melody froze. How could she kill her grandfather? How could she let her grandfather kill her technical fiancé? That's when Bucky slammed his head into Clint's sending him falling and gripping to the ledge of the helicarrier for dear life.

 _ **I left you with a cliffhanger for the millionth time! Alright guys, I'm thinking of writing Melody and Clint into Thor: The Dark World into Melody Scribbles, so let me know if that's something you guys want to see before I began working on the Agent Carter story. Also, would you guys be interested in having review responses like how I do on my Olympus Has Fallen story? Let me know in reviews or PM's or email or whatever you prefer! I hope you guys enjoyed! Remember to review!**_


	9. Til the End of the Line

Sam tried to fly off to rescue both Steve and Clint, but Bucky grabbed him by the wing before throwing him to the other end of the ship. He then turned to Melody, but she was just standing there. "Don't hurt her!" Clint threatened, but he was useless while gripping onto the side of the ship.

As he walked towards her, Melody ran to the skewed bow and arrow quiver as he tried to go after her. Sam then began to send bullets in his direction. Bucky dodged them with impressive flips as Melody turned to look to Clint from kneeling on the ground. "Go! Fly!"

"I can't!" He screamed back. "My wing is busted!" Melody began to panic, looking from Clint to Bucky and then back to Clint. She said they had to do this, no matter what, but this was Clint's life. "Don't worry about me!" He called again. "I'll figure something out!"

Sam then tried to fly off, but Bucky used a grappling hook to tear his wing off before kicking him off the ship. Melody didn't know what to do. Sam was freefalling. But then Bucky began to make his way towards Clint. Clint was still gripping on, but he was starting to lose it. Bucky slowly walked for him, scaring Melody.

That's when she was struck with so much courage. She stood up from where she was crouched down, pulling up the bow and stealing an arrow, positioning it perfectly to hit him in his human arm. That's when a thought occurred to her. She stopped, pulling the bow down before bringing it up sideways in the Mongolian Draw Clint had taught her. Just as he made it to Clint, she let go of the arrow, it perfectly going into Bucky's arm as he screamed and staggered back.

Melody then ran to Clint, crouching down next to him. "The perfect Mongolian Draw." Clint spoke through a smile. He suddenly forgot he was struggling for his life.

"Yeah, you taught me that." Melody then looked over to a nearby rooftop, seeing Sam landed perfectly fine. "And you're gonna hate me for this."

"What do you mean?" Melody grabbed Clint's fingers, it resonating with Clint what she was doing. She was trying to keep him out of danger and ground him like Sam had been grounded. "No, Melody. Don't."

"I'm sorry." She pleaded. "But I can't have anything happen to you."

"Melody!" That's when she pushed his hands off, letting him fall.

Bucky had finally recuperated, Melody panicking before jumping off to land on the motor where Steve was. Melody established her balance before quickly walking towards Steve. "You shouldn't have done that." He advised.

"I couldn't let anything happen to him." She stressed. "This is our fight, not his."

Steve just took a moment looking at her, knowing she had a point, but they could have used Clint. "We're grounded." Sam's voice came in through the radio, but Steve just kept looking at Melody, truly worried for what was going to happen to them in the next few minutes. "The suits are down. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay." Melody spoke, knowing this was the best thing for them. "We've got it."

"Melody," Clint's voice came through, stopping her instantly. She didn't know what he was going to do. He could hate and yell at her, but instead, he let out a really worried sigh. "Please be careful."

Melody smiled a little bit, wishing she could give him a hug and kiss him, knowing it was very probable that this could be the last time. "I got you, babe."

"I love you." Clint uttered instantly, thinking the same thing she was thinking.

"I love you." She then cut off her transmission, not wanting either of them to hear what they were going through, knowing it was about to get bad.

As both Melody and Steve looked up, Bucky was waiting for them on the top. They each sighed before looking to each other. Melody didn't expect to survive this. She didn't think Steve did either, but neither of them had to say anything they hadn't already said, so they offered each other a smile and kept going, ready to save millions.

* * *

Emily and Maria were still watching the footage of all the different security cameras, but Emily was a lot more worried about her daughter now. "Look at that." Maria spoke, breaking Emily out of her worries. It was security camera footage of Brock Rumlow walking up the flights of stairs with his gun out. And he was going towards the meeting room Natasha was in.

"Hawkeye," Emily called. "Falcon," Clint was still freaking out on the top of the building they were rested on, looking all over the helicarrier in hopes to see just a glimpse of Melody. He didn't think it would be too hard. She had long blonde hair. She should be standing out more than anything. But she wasn't. And he was panicked. "Rumlow's headed for the council."

Clint sighed, remembering what Melody told him earlier. They had to do this mission no matter what. Just because he wasn't with Melody didn't mean he couldn't keep going and do something else to ensure millions didn't die. "We're on it."

"Why did they say your name first?" Sam complained as they took off their suits.

"Because I'm the Avenger." Clint said obviously. "You're kind of just a guy with wings."

Sam stood there offended as Clint began to walk off, trying to figure out how they were going to get there. They were lucky Clint was always stocked up with spy gear. "But I have a name. I'm important too."

"Barely." Sam just frowned.

* * *

Steve and Melody ran into the mechanic room of the last helicarrier they needed down. They slowed down once they reached the catwalk, finding Bucky waiting for them at the end of it, in front of all the target blades. He stared them both down, his menacing face what they were met with instead of the happy face they would have seen from him if HYDRA hadn't taken control.

As Steve looked to him, he wanted to reason with him. He couldn't fight him. Not his best friend. Anyone but Bucky. "People are gonna die, Buck." Melody looked to Steve quickly and then Bucky, wondering if they would be able to talk any sense in him. "We can't let that happen." He just continued to stare them down, making Melody nervous. All she saw was that murderous face. She wasn't seeing the man Steve knew. "Please don't make me do this."

Bucky wasn't backing down. Melody looked to Steve and Bucky back and forth again, becoming scared. Bucky lunged in the direction of Melody, but Steve threw his shield at him. Bucky blocked it with his arm before continuing his charge. He shot off a few bullets, but Steve protected himself and Melody with his shield.

Melody kicked one gun out of his hand, but while she was doing that, he had time to shoot Steve in the thigh with his other gun on the side. Steve then slammed his shield into his body, sending him flying back. Bucky dropped the other gun in his fall, but as he stood up, he pulled out two daggers. "That's your department."

Melody sighed with a slight roll before pulling her knives out just as dramatically as he did. "Let's go, grandpa."

Their knives clashed with the first few swings, Steve not even being able to follow their blades. Melody kept trying to push Bucky away from where they needed to put the target blades in so Steve could sneak by, but he was good. He knew exactly what she was doing, countering her every move.

Melody finally kicked him, going to her pocket and pulling out the target blade. She ran to the control station punching a few buttons, but Bucky tried to come up again. This time Steve took him. Steve got him off long enough to look over at Melody, but she made the mistake to look back.

Bucky threw Steve to the other end of the runway, Melody running to him and slashing his flesh arm. That's when he ran back and crashed into her with anger so great they fell off the runway, the target blade knocking out of her hand and to the end of the platform they were now on. "Melody!" Steve yelled.

She picked her head up, her hair flying back along with Bucky's as he looked to her direction, Melody pinned Bucky down, giving her time to crawl towards it, but Bucky grabbed her legs, pulling her back. Steve joined her down there, trying to fight off Bucky, but he threw him off the ledge they were on. "Steve!" Melody stood up as she screamed before Bucky punched her. Melody got her bearings back while giving him an angry stare before slamming her head into his, sending him staggering back just a bit. "Clint always said I was hard headed."

Melody saw Steve drop the target blade as she began to run towards it, but Bucky grabbed her at the waist, trying to push her off. Melody grabbed his head, not having any of this. In a quick fashion, she kneed him in the head, punched him and then threw him off the ledge. The second she did that, she remembered the target blade was down there. "Fuck!" She cursed before jumping down after them.

* * *

Brock made it close to the control room, but once he walked inside, Clint punched him in the face. Sam then came up and kicked him, but Brock grabbed Clint's arms before he could do anything else, sending his head into his. Clint staggered back, but Sam came in. Brock simply threw him down with Clint. "This is gonna hurt." He told them as he began to unzip his vest and shrugging it off. "There are no prisoners with HYDRA. Just order. And order only comes from pain. Are you ready for yours?"

Sam and Clint both got up, Clint so tired of this man he had been putting up with for three years. "You know man, I've been having to deal with the way you just drone on and on ceaselessly for far too long. So, even if you weren't HYDRA, know you had this coming for that."

"'Ceaselessly'" Brock quoted. "What a big word for a dumb mind."

"Man," Sam finally spoke, understanding what Clint was talking about. "Shut the hell up." Clint was the one to send in the first punch.

* * *

Once all the secrets had come up on the internet, Natasha looked down at her phone with a proud smile. "Done." She then noticed something else. "And it's trending."

Alexander Pierce looked back and forth at everyone standing around before pressing the one button that would ruin everything. All of the World Council leaders began to collapse, Nick, Natasha and Rhodey all putting their guns up in his direction after that. "Unless you all want a two inch hole in Natasha's sternum, I would put those down." Everyone looked to him in awe, realizing he had this all planned from the beginning. "That was armed the moment you pinned it on."

Everyone looked at each other with panic and worry. They wanted to stop him, but not at the sake of Natasha's life. Rhodey was the first to put his armed hand down, and then Nick. Natasha looked to her gun for a moment, knowing she could make the shot, but she would be dead. That wouldn't ruin everyone else standing here. With a reluctant sigh, she put the gun down before giving Pierce a hateful stare.

Pierce had moved to the computer, finding himself in charge again as everyone else just glared at him. He hit some buttons, putting himself in communication with the men who were in charge of launching the helicarriers into action. "Lieutenant, how much longer?"

"Targeting grid engaged." The younger man reported. "Lowering weapons array now."

* * *

At some point, Steve had lost his shield, and as he ran for the target blade, Bucky threw it into his back. That's when Melody mounted Bucky's back, beating him until he threw her off. Steve got up and went after Bucky, his shield blocking all of Bucky's slashes as Melody realized just how close the target blade was to her.

She began her crawl to it just as Bucky stabbed Steve in the shoulder. Melody couldn't stop, though. She wasn't sure what came over her, but she knew if she did stop, Steve would just tell her to keep going.

Melody finally grabbed the target blade, standing up and hurrying to climb up the ledges to make it back to the control center of the ship. "One minute." Emily reported. That's when Melody could feel a shift in the ship which she could only assume were the weapons getting ready.

Melody was pulling herself up onto the first ledge when she was shot in the thigh. She let out a scream and fell to her knees. When she looked back, she noticed Steve off to the side. He wasn't dead, she could see him breathing, just knocked out. But she knew she had to get that target blade in.

She got up, hurrying to climb on the runway, but he shot her arm. She let that arm fall, feeling the stinging pain, but she kept going anyway. She climbed up as quickly as she could with two bullet wounds in her body, finally making it to the top, hoping Bucky wouldn't be able to get a shot from up there. "Thirty seconds!" Emily stressed as Melody staggered to the thing.

She was gripping the target blade in her hand so tight, it felt good to finally release her grip. Just as she was about to put the blade in, another shot rang out, sending Melody stiff as she felt the blood pooling on her abdomen. She fell to the ground with gasps, placing her hands to the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

The ships finally reached thirty thousand feet and the algorithm was being deployed. Thousands of targets in the north east became visible to the computers. As Melody continued to sit there, she began to think of Tony. He was on that list. He would be annihilated. But then, she also thought of her father. She remembered when he was sick and how he was still taking care of her when he got to the point where he couldn't even walk. Lastly, she thought of Clint. He was on that list too.

She shot straight up before jamming the target blade into place, finding herself gripping onto one of the poles as she felt the ship shift again. When she looked out the window, she saw one of the helicarrier's guns pointing right at her, and for a moment, she felt this sense of pride wash over there. "Charlie locked." She whispered.

"Alright, Melody," Emily spoke, a smile obviously leaking through her voice. "Now you and Steve get out of there."

She looked at the gun still staring at her, shaking her head, knowing SHIELD and HYDRA had the brightest minds in the world. People were probably working on getting it restarted at this very second. Melody let out a sigh, knowing what she had to do. It was what her dad would have done. She brought these things to life, she was going to go down with them. "Fire now."

"But Melody – " Her mother panicked.

"Mom," Melody sighed out, a warm tear falling down her face at the thought of dying. "This may literally be the last opportunity you have to treat me like a real leader. Are you really going to ruin that for me?"

Emily swallowed hard the second she heard her daughter say that. It was like she had just been stabbed, but she knew this is what Melody wanted. She looked to Maria the second her first tear fell. "Do it."

Maria had a sick look on her face too. She looked down at the one button she had to push, hesitating before finally pushing it. The first shot echoed through the entire space, both of them jumping at the sound.

The helicarriers began to tear each other apart as Melody slowly and painfully began to walk towards the end of the runway, looking down at Steve and Bucky. Steve was just waking up, slowly standing up to see what was happening. She then looked over at Bucky who was struggling under a plank of metal. She sighed. Even after everything, she knew she had to help him and Steve was already headed towards him.

* * *

Alexander looked out the window of the meeting room with a deep sigh. He shook his head as the shots continued to fire. "What a waste."

"Still on the fence about Rogers and Barnes's chances?" Natasha gloated.

Pierce then looked over at Natasha, grabbing her arm. "Time to go, councilwoman." Natasha looked over at Fury, trying to give him a brave smile, but he wasn't buying into it. "You're gonna fly me out of here."

Nick didn't even look at him as he began to walk out. He couldn't stomach it. "You know," he began, but Alexander just kept going. "There was a time when I would have taken a bullet for you."

"You already did." He finally turned around, speaking in a cocky tone. That's when Natasha pulled out the shocking device, knowing it would temper with the pin she had on, deciding to make the most of this distraction.

Natasha hit the button with no second thoughts, twitching and then falling to the ground. This was their one shot. Rhodey stepped forward as Alexander looked down at Natasha, finally shooting a blast of energy into Pierce's chest. Nick Fury then stepped forward, shooting him right in the chest, sending him through the room's window walls.

Nick then hurried over to Natasha as Rhodey continued to stay in his place in case Pierce got up again. Nick began to shake her in fear that she wouldn't wake up. "Romanoff." He whispered. She didn't even move. "Natasha!" He tried again.

Her eyebrow began to raise, Nick being able to breath much easier now. When her eyes opened, she weakly looked around. "Ow." She whispered. "Those things do sting."

As Alexander Pierce laid there, the hole in his chest pouring out the blood, his ships outside were crashing into the Potomac. He only had one sentence he wanted to mutter before he died. "Hail HYDRA."

* * *

The Charlie ship was drifting towards the SHIELD building, right by the floor Clint and Sam were fighting Brock. Brock blocked Sam's punch before punching him in the face, Clint just going up behind him and punching him in the head. Brock then threw Clint off of him, landing him right by Sam.

The two laid there, taking deep breaths until they saw the helicarrier. "You're out of your depth, kid." Brock told Sam.

That's when Clint nodded to the ship, turning Brock around immediately, but Clint and Sam already had a head start. "Son of a bitch." Brock cursed as he began running off, but Clint and Sam were making great time. It was just the after they were unsure of.

"Please tell me you've got that chopper in the air!" Sam pleaded as he looked back. Clint didn't even dare.

"Where are you?" Natasha asked. They had made it just in time as a cement plank fell right where Clint was running.

"Forty-first floor!" Clint yelled as they were making it to the window. "Northwest corner!"

"Got it!" Natasha yelled through the radio, leaning out of the helicopter slightly to see where they were going. "Stay where you are!"

Clint and Sam both shared a look, knowing they were so close to the window before Sam yelled out, "Not an option!"

"Jump!" Clint called, Sam doing as he said.

They both fell through the air for a scary moment, the helicopter only a few floors off. Nick just tilted it to catch them, both falling in and taking the door out with them, Rhodey catching Sam and Natasha catching Clint and pulling them inside just before they rolled out.

They both let out deep breaths, Natasha and Rhodey still holding onto them. "Forty-first floor!" Clint finally yelled to his old boss. "Forty-first!"

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury yelled over the helicopter's motor.

Clint rolled his eyes as Natasha pushed in her ear piece. "Carter, Hill, where's Rogers and Barnes?"

Sam and Clint shared a look, wondering back on the two. Clint then followed Natasha's lead, plagued with worry, but his voice came out stern and commanding. "If you have a location on Barnes, I need it now. Do you have a location on Barnes and Rogers?"

* * *

Melody held onto her side as she made it down to where Steve and Bucky were. Steve was lifting the plank of metal off of him like it was nothing, Melody sighing, wondering if this was their best option at the moment. Bucky looked stunned, but he didn't question it as he slipped out.

Melody made it right next to Steve, taking deep breaths as she grabbed his shoulder for support. Three gun shots could really take it out of a girl. "You know us." Steve insisted while stepping forward.

Bucky straightened up, shielding himself from Steve, not wanting him to see his face. "No I don't!" He knocked Steve down with his shoulder, Melody still managing to stand up without him, but it was proving to be difficult.

"Bucky," Steve tried again once he was fully standing. "You've known me your whole life."

Bucky didn't say anything that time, he just backhanded him with his metal hand. "Bucky," Melody tried, hoping the fact that she looked like her grandmother would work out for her. She couldn't bear to see Steve hit like that again. "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. My name is Melody Buchanan Barnes. I'm your granddaughter and I was named after you."

"Shut up!" He screamed before punching her, sending her down.

"You had a son you never met named James." Melody was still clutching her aching abdomen from the ground. "He was named after you too."

Bucky slapped her that time, letting her fall back, her hands trying to push herself up along with her knees as Steve had to fight the urge to hurt him for doing that to Melody. Steve slowly walked up to her, helping her to stand up as she let out deep breaths, wrapping her arm around his shoulders for support again. They both stared at Bucky, seeing the sensation of hurt on his face. "I'm not going to fight you." Steve dropped his shield through the cracks of the ship, having it fall in the Potomac. "You're my friend."

Melody and Steve stared him down, looking as weak as ever before, and Bucky knew them. They were standing there and he knew them, but he just couldn't figure out how or where. He had a mission to complete, whether he knew them or not, they were his mission. He tackled them both down, both of them feeling so easy to take down. Like they weren't even trying. Bucky looked down at the two blondes as they laid side by side bloody and bruised, wanting to punch the memory away. "You're my mission." He muttered before bringing his fist back and doing just that.

Bucky went back and forth, hitting Melody and then hitting Steve…and they just took it. It left Bucky flabbergasted. The girl was barely hanging onto consciousness as he was about to punch her again, he looked at what he had done. Her cheek bone had cracked in, her right eye was black and her eyes were fluttering. What had he done? He recognized her. He loved her and the fact that he did that to her made him want to break down.

"Then finish it." He looked over to the man at a loss for words as he pulled back his fist, about to punch him. "Because…we're with you to the end of the line."

The second Steve said that, Bucky couldn't find himself to complete the mission. He _knew_ him. He couldn't quite grasp how, but he knew they were best friends. All three of them. He looked back to Melody, finding tears brimming his eyes. He loved her. He loved them both, and what had he done to her?

That's when the metal under them cracked. Bucky was able to hold on, but Melody and Steve were so close to unconsciousness, they just fell through, not being able to stop it.

They each hit the water, feeling the coolness of it washing over them. Melody couldn't remember much as she fell through, but she did remember one thing. As she was sinking into the bluish green water, she remembered seeing Clint's face. It was a morning they had each woken up too early for their liking, but felt it was pointless to go back to sleep. Clint was drifting off in the covers next to her as she watched him so peaceful and so safe.

Then, Melody remembered waking up. She wasn't sure when she had passed out, but she remembered the feeling of the water dripping from her hair as her body was flung over Bucky's shoulder. She could see her arms dangling, but she wasn't sure what of her body she could move and which she couldn't. She also saw Steve's body getting dragged behind him. That's when Melody began to slightly panic. What was he going to do to them?

He then put Steve down at a small patch of sand before moving to her body. He had slowly set her down, and when he did, he noticed her open eyes. Melody wished she could pretend like she was still out, but she was paralyzed. Bucky looked down at her, their blue eyes locking in an intense staring match as she felt the sand warm her freezing body. That's when Bucky did the unexpected. He leaned towards her face, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Melody was confused as he stood up and began to walk away. While placing a hand on her still aching abdomen, she sat up ever so slightly to watch him walk off. He had just saved her. Had he remembered her? Was that why he gave her that kiss? Melody slowly eased herself back down again, feeling the wooziness of blood loss she had unfortunately felt before. She moved closer to Steve, not wanting either of them to catch hypothermia. Steve's arm was already outstretched so all she had to so was cuddle in there.

As Steve's arm was draped around her and the two were radiating heat, Melody looked to the sun. It had been cloudy all day. But the sun was now peeking out. She smiled at the tingling warmth it left on her cheeks. And she thought about what a nice place this would be to die. Then she thought of one more thing before leaving consciousness a second time that day. "Clint." She just barely whispered it. Like the sound of a summer breeze. And then like that, it was all black.

 _ **Gigi103: Thanks so much for your review! And yes I will be doing an Olympus Has Fallen sequel! I've actually already started working on the first chapter hehe. I'll probably put it up after I'm done with this one! I will definitely be doing Thor in Scribbles for you, love! Thanks for always being a constant reviewer! They make my day!**_

 _ **It's been a really bad week, guys, that's why it took me so long to get this up, but it's finally up! Woo! There should be one more chapter after this one and then we'll be done. The next story will be the Agent Carter story, but it won't come up right away since I have other stories to work on, but as always, I'll post a chapter on this story whenever it's up. Let me know if you would rather have it Maria Stark: Best Mistake or Melody Barnes: Best Mistake. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and remember to review!**_


	10. Evergreen

Melody and Steve's rooms were placed right next to each other. Sam never left Steve's room and Clint never left Melody's. Of course they called Tony, and at first he was livid that they would put his daughter in such a reckless situation, but he knew that fighting was something Melody wouldn't have wanted. Tony did call in favors of every doctor he knew to get the two better as fast as possible, and Clint didn't argue with that one.

Clint then told the doctors what she had found and they immediately took blood samples and began to test it. They then worked on a cure to reverse her symptoms, developing and injecting her with one before she even woke up.

Clint and Tony were currently passed out on each other from exhaustion. There were guards and Happy outside both rooms so you know no one was getting in without a badge. Melody began to stir, the first bit of activity she had since she was emitted.

When her eyes finally opened, she turned to see the two leaning on each other, Clint curling into Tony's shoulder as Tony's mouth was wide open with snores. A big smile spread on her face as the sight warmed her heart. "Well," she whispered out. It was loud enough to wake Clint out of his light sleep. As he picked his head up, Tony began to wake up at the feeling of Clint's head no longer under his. Both of their eyes widened when she realized she was awake, straightening up. "If it isn't two of my favorite boys."

The two had never gotten out of their seats so fast, Clint making it to her just before Tony. "How are you feeling?"

Melody looked over at him like he was an idiot finding that question a little dumb. "Well, as if I wasn't already dying, I also got shot three times and broke my cheek bone so I'm feeling fantastic, what about you?"

"Can you not be an asshole for five seconds?" Clint pleaded.

"Are you kidding?" She laughed, pointing over at Tony. "This man raised me."

"PS," Clint spoke in a thought, realizing she didn't know what happened in the past week. Tony was currently trying to defend himself from what Melody had just said. "You're not dying anymore."

"Also, you're in trouble." Tony added.

"Wait," Melody paused, mulling that over. "What?"

"Yeah," Tony shrugged like it was no big deal. "We found a cure and you're good now, but you're still in trouble."

A slight smile passed over Melody's face at the excitement that she wasn't dying anymore, but she then remembered she was in trouble with Tony. "Why am I in trouble? What did I do? I just woke up."

"Because you didn't tell me you were dying and I could have gotten you better a lot quicker."

"Wait," Melody began to frown. "So, they found a cure…does that mean they could have cured my dad?"

Clint and Tony both went stiff, Tony deciding to sit down next to her on the bed, Clint moving aside so he could do so. "Melody, honey," Tony began. "They didn't know what was going on with your dad, but when they knew it was an effect of the super soldier serum, they were able to work from that and find something."

"You'll actually be just as strong as Steve now." Clint told her with a slight smile.

Melody put her head down, thinking. "So my dad got this from Bucky and I got this from my dad, so," she looked up at Clint that time, "what's gonna happen when I have children?"

"They're going to get the same cure as you." Tony informed, massaging her leg a little.

Melody let out a dark laugh while shaking her head. "So my family will always be passing down the freak gene."

"Hey," Clint spoke, sitting down right next to her, Tony continuing to massage her leg. Clint wouldn't mind their children having the "freak gene". He thought it would be kind of cool. "That 'freak gene' saved your life."

"Melody," Tony spoke, knowing he had to get back down to business. There was still a criminal on the loose. Melody looked to him, waiting for what he had to say, but Tony began to second guess himself. He didn't want to call the man who saved his daughter a criminal. "Was Bucky the one that pulled you and Steve out of the water?"

"Yeah." She spoke it slowly, not sure how he knew that.

"He kind of fell off the face of the earth." Clint included. Melody turned her head to the side. She guessed she didn't expect any different, but at the same time, it was kind of disappointing. "Did he say anything?"

Melody looked down, thinking about her father's death video playing in her head again and again. That man may have saved her life, but he also killed her father. Her whole family to be exact. That's when Melody looked up at Tony, realizing he didn't know. There was no way anyone was going to tell him. Should she tell him? If she did tell him, a whole war would break out between the group. She looked back down, deciding to keep it to herself, but she did know one thing. Even if Bucky was her grandfather, he killed her whole family, and she wasn't sure if that was something she could just let go. "No." She finally spoke while rigorously shaking her head. "He didn't say anything."

They both looked at her while nodding, knowing she needed all the rest she could get. "Is Steve up yet?" She questioned. No offense to the other two, she loved them, but she wanted to talk to the one man that knew exactly what she was going through at the moment.

"He beat you by a day." Clint spoke with a shrug.

"I'll go talk to him."

Melody tried to get out of the bed, but the two immediately moved their hands in front of her so she wouldn't get up. "Are you crazy?" Clint questioned. "You just woke up from a slight coma."

"Slight coma?" Melody questioned.

Clint looked to Tony, confused. "What else do you call it?"

"Unconsciousness." Tony spoke loudly and obviously.

"Yeah, but that doesn't sound as cool."

Tony gave Clint a dramatic eye roll as Melody pushed past the two. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

Melody grabbed the stand that was holding her IV bag and began to roll it out the door. When she opened the door, she was greeted with Happy personally guarding the door himself. She got a big smile on her face from that. "Hey, Happy."

"What are you doing walking? You should be in bed."

"I'll take my chances." She whispered, pushing him out of the way, Clint and Tony following closely behind her.

When she looked back, she had to roll her eyes at the two. It was just going to get worse from here with her recovery. She quickly slipped into Steve's room and closed the door after her, smiling once she saw him with his leg propped up. "Wow," Steve scoffed. "You look terrible."

"Yeah," Melody laughed out at him. "So do you Captain Broken Leg."

Sam began to laugh as he stood up from his seat. "I'll give you two a minute to taunt each other."

When Sam got to Melody, he made sure to lean in and give her a long hug. "I'm glad you're okay." He whispered to her.

"You too, Sam."

He slowly slipped out the door, Melody moving to go to Steve's side as fast as she could walk, Steve making sure to move things off the side of the bed so she could sit down comfortably. "We did it." Steve whispered to her.

Melody nodded, her face going cold. "Yeah, but what did we really get from it?"

"We stopped HYDRA." Steve told her obviously.

That's when Melody sat up, looking at him as the arm draped around her shoulder fell. "You really think of all HYDRA was there? That they don't have more?"

A concerned smile pulled at Steve's lips as he began to stroke her hair. "We're going to get them."

Melody shook her head, looking away from him with a deep sigh. "I don't know anymore, Steve."

Steve noticed she was doubting herself for the past few days, so he decided what she needed more than anything right now was a pep talk. "You know what we did?" Melody turned to look back at him, having hope in her eyes that he would make her feel better. "We became infinite. Like you said, we took out a huge portion and HYDRA knows now that we're not going to stop. And we're…" Steve was struggling to come up with a word, that's when Melody knew she had to step in.

"Evergreen." She finished for him, he turned his head at the use of that word. "You know how leaves maintain green all year round, we've maintained our morals. And we took down HYDRA with that."

Steve's smile grew as big as he could manage it. "Yeah." He nodded as Melody snuggled back into his side and laid her head on his should. "We're evergreen."

* * *

Melody and Clint's apartment felt foreign to them. It felt like years since they had been here. Lucky was the first thing to greet them, Melody kneeling down and giving him a large hug on his neck. That's when she began to cry. She began to cry about SHIELD, her father, her sickness, the fact that she had the super soldier serum running through her veins, the fact that she almost died. It had all hit her at once and Lucky sensed it, beginning to lick her face where the break was still healing.

Clint also sat down with her, finding all of his grief release too. He put his arm on Melody as she cried into Lucky's neck and Clint put his face in Melody's neck, crying along with her. He was grieving for SHIELD, the fear of losing Melody, that agonizing week not knowing if Melody was going to wake up from her coma or not. Walking into that apartment seemed to destroy them in under a minute.

Clint picked his head up, looking around at their apartment, remembering all the great times they had in there. He remembered baking holiday cookies with Melody on Christmas. He remembered the time they decided to move all the furniture and play Twister on a Tuesday night. He remembered when Melody got super drunk, thought she could fly and jumped off the counter, busting her face, and then Clint had to take care of her for the rest of the night. He remembered their fight when he told her mother she didn't want children. He remembered their makeup sex. He remembered moving in and being too lazy to unpack everything so they ate pizza on the floor…and they were completely content with that.

That apartment held great memories for them, but they knew they wouldn't be able to make anymore. This apartment had given them everything it had and so did Washington DC, but they just happened to get as much as they could out of both. There was nothing left for them anymore here. And that was okay. It was like when Melody knew she outgrew Malibu. There was nothing they could do about it and they were sad, but leaving was what was best for them.

As Clint looked around at their apartment, a small smile spread through his tears. He loved that place and he thanked it for every wonderful memory that happened there, but he knew just like Melody knew that it was time to head to upstate New York. And there, they would be with their kids and live a semi normal life. It would be quiet upstate, and as he looked at Melody, he began to smile even brighter. Anywhere was home with her.

* * *

Melody laid in bed, just looking up at the ceiling as Clint was knocked out next to her, light snores from both him and Lucky taking up the whole room. She just laid there. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't do anything. It was like she was paralyzed. Only one thought possessed her mind as she laid there. So, with a sigh, she got out of bed, making sure not to wake Clint before lightly closing the door behind her, Lucky about as bothered by it as Clint was.

Melody tip toed into the living room before pulling out her laptop and sitting in the middle of the couch. After putting in her password, she looked at the computer for a moment, getting all of her thoughts together and mentally preparing herself for a long night in front of a computer screen.

She opened up a Word document and looked at it for a moment. Maybe this was what it was all leading to with her. The way she would journal her feelings in documents. Maybe it was all leading to this one point and she took a moment thinking of that before her fingers went flying across the keyboard.

For hours, Melody methodically typed until her fingers began to hurt. It all just came pouring out, words she never dared to speak out loud. All the struggles she had felt in the past few years and every bit of emotion she never voiced. And she couldn't stop. Her fingers did the work before she even knew what work she was doing. By the time morning came, she was done.

She had to look at it for a few moments, taking in the fact that she was done. She constantly ran her thoughts through her mind, checking to see if she missed anything. Well, she guessed that's what drafting was for.

As she continued to look at the screen, the door to their bedroom and Lucky came bounding out the door. Melody looked to him as he jumped on the couch and began to scratch his ear. She heard Clint's feet come padding through the wood flooring, making her smile. Clint automatically moved to the coffee pot, making the pot before turning back to Melody. He couldn't function if he didn't at least have the smell of coffee. "How long have you been up?"

Melody looked over at him, her face slightly guilty. "All night."

Clint's eyes widened just a little bit. As much as he could manage early in the morning. "What happened? Nightmares?"

"No." Melody whispered, looking back to her computer. "I just thought of something."

Clint slowly walked up to her before sitting down cautiously. She was acting so out of it. Almost like she was possessed. "What?"

Melody took a sigh before shutting the laptop and turning to look at Clint and handing him the laptop. He looked into her eyes before taking the laptop from her and opening it up. "I think I've always been working on this." Clint typed in the password and the Word document was the first thing to show up. "I mean it started out as just journaling, but last night it kind of all just clicked." Clint began to scroll through it, realizing just how long it was. "Things between us have never been easy," Clint looked back to her, fear running through his body. "I mean we've always had problems, but we've always worked them out. And I think I figured out why. And I just wrote it out."

Clint let out a tiny chuckle before looking back to it. "'Just wrote it out'" he quoted, the chuckle still at the bottom of his throat. "Melody, this is over two hundred pages." That's when he looked to her, their eyes locking instantly, Clint's and bewilderment and Melody's in a knowing. "You wrote a book."

"Trust me," Melody scoffed out. "That was not my intention. I was just trying to get my thoughts out and understand what was going on, but that kind of came out." He looked back to her, a small, shy smile on her face. "And it would mean a lot to me if you read it."

Clint smiled right back, grabbing her hand and rubbing the back of it with his thumb. "You better pour me a cup of coffee."

Melody laughed, getting up and giving him a kiss on the top of his head before doing as he said. When she gave him the cup of coffee, she told him she was going to see Pepper and he asked her to take Lucky. If he was going to sit down and read this thing, he didn't want any distractions what so ever. So, once they were both gone, he took a large sip of coffee before starting out.

 _How to Love and How to be an Emotionally Damaged Person_

 _INTRODUCTION_

 _When I started writing this, it was something completely different. I was writing it about my love. It was small journal entries about little things I noticed of an emotionally damaged man. But as I wrote (and events revealed themselves during the process) I learned that he wasn't the only one emotionally damaged. I was too._

 _The real truth is that no one admits they're emotionally damaged because no one notices that about themselves. People are so quick to point it out in others, but they never look inward. The strange part is that they can spot someone who is emotionally damaged right off the back. Like me._

 _It's not easy being emotionally damaged, and it's not easy loving someone who is. It paralyzes your whole life, and I'm pretty sure the emotional damage in me is responsible for postponing our marriage. Put my partner and I's condition together, you might as well throw in the towel. But not us. We make it work._

 _Trust me, our relationship is anything but easy. It's the hardest thing I've done in my life, but worth it. So, so worth it. It's worth it because it's also the easiest thing in my life. It's the way we fit together when we lie down in bed. The way our hands just naturally attract like magnets. How in synch we are with our movements around the house. That's how it's easy._

 _But it's hard. It's so hard. When we bottle up our emotions until we burst. When we talk about something and end up in an argument because our emotions took control. When one of us bursts into tears and we have to hold each other, wanting to help, but having no idea how so we just hug each other so tight in hopes to push us back together. The nightmares. The nightmares have to be the worst part. One of us will wake up screaming bloody murder while the other just holds the dreamer, wishing we could stop it, but as much as we wish there was, there's no switch. So we just sit there, wanting to take it all away and make them happy again until the screams stop and we ease each other to sleep._

 _Being emotionally damaged is something you can't change. I wish I could. I really wish I could tell you there's some magical pill out there you can just swallow and everything will be all right. Back to scheduled programming. You could close this book and put it back on the shelf without giving it another thought. But there isn't. You can't change yourself and you can't change your partner. Life's given you scars and unfortunately, those scars are permanent._

 _If you learn one thing from this, I want it to be that you can't cover up your or your partner's scars. You wear them proudly. Anyone who thinks otherwise about the scars doesn't deserve your time or love. Don't be embarrassed and don't make others feel that. That's something we all have to live with. A scar on our soul that hurts a lot more than a scar on your body. The scars on your body heal, it's the ones on your soul that don't. But I do know one thing about those scars. If you've survived this far, you can do anything._

And Clint read the whole thing. He couldn't put it down. He read as he fished for the laptop charger and plugged it in. He read as he poured himself another cup of coffee and made a sandwich.

He read until he was sure he was no longer able to see straight, and just as he was finishing up, Melody walked in. "Stop." Clint spoke, throwing his hand up, shoulders hunched over the screen as Melody just stood in the doorway. "I'm almost done."

Melody didn't know what to do so she just continued to stand in the doorway with Lucky performing an antsy dance of wanting to greet his dad. With a deep breath, Clint shut the laptop and Melody didn't dare hold Lucky anymore, letting him bolt. Melody began to walk towards him, his eyes not falling off of her. He was giving Lucky the scratches he was asking for, but he just couldn't take his eyes off of Melody. She slowly sat down next to him, not sure what to say. "It was awful, wasn't it?"

Clint didn't waste any more time, moving Lucky out of the way and giving Melody a large hug. She hugged him back, not sure what else to do. "It's beautiful." Clint whispered to her before pulling apart to look at the laptop. "Do you understand how many lives you could affect with this?"

Melody laughed a little. "I can't publish that. Are you kidding?"

"Melody," Clint sighed while looking at it. "At this point, I don't think you really have a choice."

Melody took a deep sigh before looking back to the laptop. Did he know what happened when heiresses published books? They become ridiculed and no one reads it because why the hell would they want to read the "thoughts" of a dumb heiresses who has no idea how the real world works. That's if she even wrote it.

She then got a thought. She would publish it under one condition. "I can publish it as anonymous, right? You can still do that?"

Clint sighed as he looked back to it. "Yeah, you're gonna have to get a lot of NDAs ready though. One for a publisher, an editor…" Clint trailed off, not really sure what all went into getting a book published.

Melody then gave him another nervous glance. "You really thought it was that good?"

Clint gave her a smile before pushing his face to hers. "So good that I'm about to call your lawyer for you."

"Yes, sir." She mocked saluted, Clint pulling her in for a passionate kiss before she broke away with a little happy dance before rushing to the phone. Clint watched her as she excitedly talked on the phone, knowing this would be good for her.

* * *

Melody and Clint walked up to Steve and Sam as they stood in front of Fury's headstone. "Why's this thing still up?" She asked in an annoyed voice. "Isn't it kind of irrelevant now?"

"Are you seriously asking why it's still up?" Clint scoffed. "Fury's a drama queen. It's probably gonna be up until he actually kicks it."

"You do know I'm right behind you, don't you?"

Melody and Clint looked to each other, normally knowing they would be freaked out if this happened, but there was nothing Fury could really do to them anymore. "You're not my boss anymore, sir."

Nick sighed before giving a slight shrug. "You do have a point."

Emily then walked up, joining the group with Rhodey holding her hand as the two walked up. Emily's headstone was right next to Nick's. "So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?" Emily asked Steve.

"You get used to it." He told them with a shrug. Melody looked over at her mother's headstone, feeling a quiver down her back as she looked at it. She didn't want to go through that ever again.

"We've been datamining HYDRA's files." Nick spoke, everyone turning back to him. "And it looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship."

"We're headed to Europe tonight." She spoke as she looked around at the group, knowing having any of them there would be extra helpful. "We wanted to ask if any of you wanted to come."

"There's something I gotta do first." Steve spoke with a little shrug.

"And we're," Clint began while placing an arm around Melody's shoulders, "going to take a long break from SHIELD and HYDRA and everything of that nature."

Melody nodded, a small smile growing on her face. "Maybe I'll write a book."

Clint rolled his eyes at her as Emily just shook her head at her daughter's goofiness. "What about you Wilson?" Fury asked. "We could use a man with your abilities."

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." Sam spoke instantly.

Fury nodded his head, accepting his loses, trying to accept the fact that three of his best agents were just going to be gone. He had to get used to the fact that he didn't really have agents anymore either. SHIELD wasn't his anymore. He was just a man now, and that was something he and Emily had to get used to. "Alright." He finally spoke.

They all moved forward, taking time to shake each other their hands. When Emily got to Melody, she looked to her daughter with such regret. She really wished SHIELD would have survived long enough for her daughter to command something, but she was already proud of her, and that was enough for Emily.

"If anyone asks for us," Fury spoke, looking to them all individually before continuing, "tell them they can find me right here." Then the three walked side by side to the exit of the graveyard.

"You should be honored." They all turned to look at Natasha, giving her a smile. "That's about as close he gets to saying thank you."

"Not going with him?" Clint asked, his eyebrows going up in shock.

She rolled her eyes at her big brother. "No, Clint. I'm free as a bird just like you."

Clint shook his head as he looked away. "But you're not staying here." Melody spoke, knowing she was going to miss her best friend, but they would be together again. It was impossible for them not to be.

"I blew all my covers. I got to go figure out a new one."

"That's gonna take a while." Steve included.

"I'm counting on it." She whispered out, she then focused in on Steve. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." She pulled out a file, Melody growing stiff, knowing Steve wasn't going to stop. He was going to keep looking for Bucky even if it killed him, but Melody…she just couldn't do it. She knew he was blood, but he just wasn't family to her, not like he was to Steve. "Will you do me a favor?" Natasha actually sounded like she was pleading. "Call that nurse."

"She's not a nurse." Steve spoke through a smile.

"And you're not a SHIELD agent." Natasha fired right back.

Steve gave her a smile, finding that little sister bond in Natasha that Clint also found. "What was her name again?"

"Sharon." Melody answered for her, smiling a little bit at that.

"She's nice." Natasha added as the two girls shared a devious smile between each other. Natasha then leaned forward, giving Steve a light kiss on the cheek before whispering, "Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread."

When Natasha pulled away from Steve, she didn't waste any time pulling Melody into a tight hug. Melody had gotten so use to Washington DC and Natasha and Steve, she wasn't sure what she was going to do without them. She didn't realize when this started that she was going to have to leave two homes in less than five years. "You know I'm gonna call you every day, right?" Melody broke away before giving her a big smile and nod.

Clint then walked over to Natasha, beginning to talk to her as Melody turned to Steve. That was going to be a hard one to leave too. "Where are you two going?"

"Upstate New York." Melody told him with a nod. "Somewhere quiet and uneventful."

Steve laughed before pulling her in for a tight hug. "You know I'm proud of you, right?"

Melody smiled, hugging him a little tighter. "Only if you know I'm proud of you."

When they pulled away, Steve gave her a small kiss on the cheek before she turned around to look at Clint. He reached out his hand for her, Melody finding that being the best gesture. For the first time, they were truly choosing each other. Not SHIELD, not Steve or Tony. Their relationship. Their little family. And Melody was happy that for once, she could be selfish and live her life like a normal person. That's all she wanted. A normal life with Clint, and she was finally going to be living it.

She took his hand and wrapped her right arm around Clint's as they walked off. Sure, they didn't exactly know what they were stepping into, but they didn't have to save the world for a while. They could just lie low. And maybe, their marriage would happen, maybe it wouldn't. They didn't really care anymore. As long as they had each other. Married or not. This was their turn and they were taking it.

 _ **And that's it for Melody Barnes: Evergreen. The next story is going to be the first season of Agent Carter called Melody Barnes: Best Mistake. Even if i was disappointed with the lack of reviews for this story, I love the way it turned out and I'm proud of myself for that. Thank you guys so much for the reads and those of you who have reviewed! Be on the look out for Melody Barnes: Best Mistake!**_


	11. Melody Barnes: Smells Like Teen Spirit

The new story Melody Barnes: Smells Like Teen Spirit is now up!


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